Which of the following is not a form of unemployment that is counted by the government? California EDD breakdown

Got the DE 429Z, yeah, it shows $387 a week. So the claim exists I guess, it's just those two weeks sitting there doing nothing.

Same thing happened on mine, the DE 429Z came pretty fast but the actual payments took forever after that. EDD still has to decide eligibility separately from setting up the claim.

Exactly - the DE 429Z is basically EDD laying out the maximum your claim can pay, it doesn't mean they've decided you're eligible for those specific pending weeks yet.

Wait so the employer's response can actually cause MY weeks to go pending even when I was clearly laid off? That feels so unfair.

That's exactly what the agent told me - the employer submitted dates that were off by a week from what I'd put on my application, and EDD flagged it automatically. Once the agent noted it in my file it cleared within a few days.

Dates mismatch between what the claimant says and what the employer submits - yeah that's a really common reason for a hold. Good to know there's a way to actually find out instead of just guessing.

So basically someone who gets frustrated and stops sending applications just... vanishes from the data? That seems like a huge gap in how we understand the job market.

Exactly right - the broader measure includes those discouraged workers and the involuntary part-timers, and it's always noticeably higher than the headline rate. For EDD purposes though, what matters is that you stay actively looking for work every week you certify.

This is actually why EDD requires you to be available for work and looking every week to keep getting benefits - if you stop looking you stop qualifying, which kind of mirrors why they stop being counted in the official stats too.

Oh wow, I was literally about to refile because I thought the pending meant something was broken. Thank you for saying this.

Don't refile! Seriously. The pending weeks can still get paid once EDD makes a decision, but only if you kept certifying them. That's the main thing.

This is so important - keep certifying no matter what, even if everything shows pending. If you stop certifying those weeks can't be paid back even if you win an appeal later.

Wait so if someone quits and can't find work, the government essentially doesn't count them as unemployed in the official stats? That seems like it distorts the picture significantly.

It can, yeah. If they're actively job searching they'd still be counted because the main test is whether you're looking for work, not whether you quit or were laid off. The voluntary/involuntary distinction matters more for EDD benefits than for the official unemployment count.

This actually makes my situation clearer - I was laid off so I should be fine on the EDD side, it's just the pending status that's the mystery.

Only the DE 429Z so far. No DE 4800, no other letters. Should I be checking my UI Online homepage for interview info too?

Yes - the scheduled time for the phone interview also shows up on the UI Online homepage, so check there. Sometimes the letter is slower than the homepage update.

If a phone interview was scheduled you'd see it on the UI Online homepage before the letter arrives sometimes. Keep an eye on that and make sure your phone is on and available during whatever window they give you.

Staffing agency situations sound like a nightmare for EDD paperwork. At least you found out what was actually happening instead of just sitting in the dark.

Knowing the specific reason made it so much less stressful. I could actually do something with that information instead of just refreshing UI Online hoping the status changed.

Staffing agency as the employer of record versus the work site company - that's a genuinely confusing setup for EDD to process. Makes sense it would throw a flag.

So for the official unemployment rate, a new grad job hunting counts, but they can't get EDD benefits because they haven't worked enough to build up a base period. Got it - those two systems measure different things.

Exactly - the official unemployment rate is about labor market activity, EDD benefits are about whether you earned enough wages in the base period. Completely separate questions even though people conflate them all the time.

How did you get through that month mentally? I'm already stressed and it's only been three weeks.

Honestly I just kept a note on my phone of what I could actually control - certify on time, check UI Online, keep my job search going - and tried not to think about the stuff I couldn't control. It eventually cleared.

Keeping the job search going is key anyway because EDD requires you to be actively looking for work every week you certify. Focusing on that at least gives you something productive to do while waiting.

This is a really common mix-up. When I got the DE 429Z I literally texted my sister that I'd been approved. I had not been approved.

Okay, adding this to my mental model. DE 429Z = claim is set up, not approved. Actual decision shows up as either a payment or a DE 1080CZ denial. Got it.

Exactly - and if you do get a DE 1080CZ, appeal within 30 days of the mailing date on the notice using the DE 1000M form or a written letter to the address on the notice.

I did register on CalJOBS right after I applied because I saw it mentioned somewhere, but I didn't know about the 21-day window. Good to know that's the actual deadline.

The 21 days run from the date on the DE 8405, not from when you applied. So check that letter specifically for your deadline. Missing it can stop payments according to what EDD sent me.

CalJOBS registration is separate from UI Online and a lot of people don't realize EDD is watching for it. If you got the DE 8405, make sure your resume is posted at caljobs.ca.gov before the date on the letter.

So frictional unemployment is basically the baseline noise in any economy - always there, not a sign of anything broken, and counted in the stats. The uncounted people are the ones who've dropped out of the search entirely.

Right, and economists sometimes call those dropouts 'discouraged workers' in the broader measure. The gap between the headline rate and the broader rate tells you how many people have basically given up, which can be a more honest picture of the job market.

I didn't even know you could send messages through UI Online. Where is that option?

There's a way to message EDD through your UI Online account - I found it under a help or contact option in the menu. Worth trying if you don't want to sit on hold.

Messaging through UI Online is slower than the phone but at least you get something in writing. Good for things that aren't urgent but that you want documented.

So the government unemployment figure is technically unemployment as a percentage of people actively participating in the labor market, not as a percentage of all working-age adults. That's a crucial distinction.

Exactly. If your nephew's exam question is asking which form is NOT counted, the answer is almost certainly discouraged workers or the voluntarily idle - people outside the labor force entirely.

For California EDD purposes though, being a 'discouraged worker' in the economic sense doesn't help you file a claim. You still need base period wages and you still need to be actively looking for work every week you certify.

So you can work part time and still get some benefits? I didn't realize EDD had a formula for that.

Yeah - if your weekly benefit amount was, say, $387 and you earned $150 part time, EDD would take the greater of $25 or 25 percent of $150 (which is $37.50) as the disregard, subtract the remaining $112.50 from your $387, and pay you around $274.50 for that week. Report the wages in the week they were earned, not when the paycheck hits.

The formula described above is accurate - report wages for the week the work was done, use the Report Wages tool in UI Online before certifying that week if you want to work out the math first. Full time work for a week means no benefits for that week regardless of what it paid.

Structural unemployment actually seems like it could last a really long time too, right? Way harder to fix than frictional because it's not just about waiting to match up with an open position.

Much harder to fix - frictional is about time, structural is about retraining and industry shifts. Both show up in official stats but structural unemployment can persist for years in regions where industries collapse.

California Training Benefits are actually designed partly for structural situations - if EDD approves you for a training program related to your field being disrupted, you can keep collecting while you retrain without having to show you're searching for work in the old field.

Knowing it's a laid-off situation, do you think I'd get a phone interview at all, or would EDD just clear the pending weeks without one?

Depends on whether your employer's response matched what you said exactly. If it all lines up EDD might just process it. If anything is flagged they schedule the interview. Either way keep certifying.

If a phone interview does get scheduled, the time is on both the DE 4800 they mail you and on the UI Online homepage. Don't miss it - if you can't make it, contact EDD at least a day before to try to move it.

This actually makes me feel better. Three weeks isn't a red flag by itself, it's just the normal processing time, and anything beyond that is the adjudication layer on top.

Right - and the payments for those pending weeks can still come through once EDD makes the determination. The pending status doesn't mean lost, it means undecided.

The 'keep certifying no matter what' advice cannot be said enough. Those pending weeks only get paid if you certified them. Missing a certification is the one thing you can actually control that could hurt you.

I'm going to pass this whole thread to my nephew honestly. Way more context than what his textbook gave him.

The EDD angle makes it real too - like these aren't just academic categories, they're the actual decisions real people are navigating when their jobs disappear.

If the exam uses the term 'voluntary unemployment' that could also be the right answer depending on how the question is framed - someone who quit and isn't job searching would be outside the labor force. If they ARE actively searching though, they'd be counted.

So the agent could actually see which step was stuck? That's exactly the kind of information that would help me stop catastrophizing about this.

They could see the full status of my file - what had been received, what was still outstanding, which weeks were flagged and why. Way more than what UI Online shows claimants.

That's the value of actually getting to talk to someone - UI Online gives you the status but not the reason. An agent can tell you the reason, which is completely different information.

The rate dropping because people gave up rather than because they found jobs - that's always struck me as a weird artifact of how the measurement works. Good for the headline number, bad for understanding actual economic conditions.

Exactly the kind of thing an econ professor loves to test because it shows whether students understand the formula versus just memorizing the terms. Hope your nephew aces it.

And on my end - still pending but I feel way better equipped now. Going to check UI Online for any interview time, make sure CalJOBS is fully set up, and keep certifying. Thanks everyone.