The new regulation on unemployment compensation system in Florida made it difficult for the jobless to receive its benefits, according to two advocacy groups who requested the federal government to investigate.

According to a report by Sun-Sentinel, more than 86,000 Floridians were denied benefits in the first three months of 2012, which is 67 percent more than the same period in the previous month. The advocacy also said only 17 percent of the jobless in Florida received benefits in 2011, which is 10 percent lower than the national average.

“In 2011, the state of Florida enacted a series of significant changes to the state’s Unemployment Insurance law (HB 7005). These changes uniformly benefitted employers, making it more difficult for unemployed workers to access, qualify for, or maintain benefits, and decreasing the amount of benefits qualified unemployed workers are eligible to receive,” wrote Florida Legal Services and National Employment Law Project to the U.S. Department of Labor.

One of the new laws required the unemployment applicants to complete an online test with 45 questions to review initial skills. However, many were not able to take this test online, thus benefits were denied. Telephone tests were no longer available.

The advocacy groups argued that such practice of eliminating telephone filing would “violate federal law”.

“During the legislative process, the USDOL’s ETA Office of Unemployment Insurance had warned that completing such an examination could not be a condition of initial eligibility, as this would violate federal law,” wrote the groups.

Valory Greenfield, an attorney with Florida Legal Services said the new law is affecting the most vulnerable people in the state.

"We're talking about people who are hungry, whose rent is due, whose mortgage is due,” said Greenfield.

"Nowhere in the country is it this hard to get help when you lose a job."

Only 49 percent of applicants in Florida received unemployment benefits, while 71 percent received nationwide on average, according to a data by National Employment Law Project.