Waiting 18 weeks on my first unemployment payment - any advice?

I applied for unemployment in Little Rock 18 weeks ago and the status page still says pending. I am in Little Rock, in case local advice matters. I called the state line four times and only reached a recording. Is there a step I could have missed?

Thanks for writing this out. I went through something close to it last year, and it settled down once I kept a simple log of every call and form.