Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday acknowledged the trouble at the the state Department of Labor being overwhelmed by a wave of calls from people who have lost their jobs seeking to file for unemployment. 

"I apologize for the pain," Cuomo said. "It must be infuriating to deal with. I'm telling you, we have every technology company on it."

The department's number to file a claim typically receives 50,000 calls a week. Last week, 1.7 million calls were made, and on 1.2 million calls were made on Monday alone.

"It is not working as smoothly as I would like to see it," Cuomo said. "You're unemployed. You can't get through on the darn website."

Cuomo said the problem is being worked on with technology companies in an effort to expand access and handle the increased volume. 

The pandemic has led to an economic shutdown amid efforts to halt the spread of the virus.