Waiting 26 weeks on my first unemployment payment, payroll clerk here

I was laid off as a payroll clerk and filed right away, and I have been certifying every week. This is my first time dealing with any of this. The page shows my claim as open but no payment date. Is there a step I could have missed?

When I finally got through, the agent said my employer had responded late. Once that cleared, back pay came in one payment.

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