"It took me two weeks in order to actually get hold of somebody and that was hanging up and dialing," said Magnan.

Like thousands of others, Magnan was just trying to file an unemployment claim.

"I'm a mom and you need that money. That's your only source of income. You need that money," Magnan said.

Troy Glanc knows all to well about the wait. He's been without a job or paycheck for more than a month.

"I've used my speed dial. I'll come down here. I'm always quite frustrated because I'll spend my morning down here," said Glanc.

"We always tell people it's like trying to call into a radio station contest (and) to just keep calling," said Jaydean Miller of the Missouri Career Center.

The Missouri Career Center advises calling the unemployment line as soon as it opens at 7:30 a.m. But we talked to a lot of people who say that's what they are doing and this is the answer they're getting: "Our hold lines are full. Please try calling again between the hours of 8 and 5."

"I need to talk to a real live person," said Glanc.

Callers' mounting frustrations are on top of the stress of losing their jobs.

"A lot of times people come into our office thinking we could help them and we wish we could. Unfortunately, the only option is to go by phone or computer," Miller said.

So the only thing they can do is keep calling and hope eventually they'll get through.

The Missouri Department of Labor has increased its hours and staff to deal with the growing number of people being laid off. It says Mondays and Tuesdays are the worst days to call.