Waiting 26 weeks on my first unemployment payment - 26 weeks in

I filed my claim 26 weeks ago after being let go as a customer-service rep. It has been a long 26 weeks. 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 14 months ago, and it settled down once I kept a simple log of every call and form.