Posted: Saturday, May 19, 2012 --- 5:30p.m.

MILWAUKEE (AP) -- The state has halted a plan to put on hold payments to jobless people because they failed to register with the Job Center of Wisconsin.

Department of Workforce Development Deputy Secretary Jonathan Barry directed the agency Friday to enact a grace period of 60 days to allow time for claimants to register.

Last month, the agency's Unemployment Insurance Division began a program in which they matched new jobless-pay claimants with a Job Center of Wisconsin database.

According to DWD spokesman John Dipko, claimants were told that failure to register within 10 days would result in a hold of benefits.

Dipko told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (http://bit.ly/KBJJeS ) 4,500 new claimants were denied benefits for failure to register during the 11-day enforcement period. He says that group would now be paid benefits.

------

Information from: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, http://www.jsonline.com

Copyright 2012. The Associated Press.