


Ask the community...
The system is so messed up. I got denied because they said I didn't do enough job searches even though I applied to like 20 places. They want you to jump through all these hoops and then still find reasons to deny you.
wait I thought if you quit you automatically can't get unemployment? I've been at a terrible job for months because I thought I'd lose benefits
No, that's a common misconception. You can quit and still get benefits if you have 'good cause' - things like unsafe working conditions, significant changes to your job duties or pay, harassment, or other compelling reasons. But you have to be able to prove it and show you tried to resolve the situation first.
Your benefit calculation seems normal to me. I was making about the same and get $415/week. The system takes your highest earning quarter and divides by 26, so it's not based on your full year salary like some people think.
Back to the original question though - unemployment was definitely lower during 2017-2019 but then shot up to like 14% during the pandemic. Now it's back down but job quality seems different somehow. I've been on unemployment twice in the last 3 years and finding decent paying work is harder even though the 'rate' looks good on paper.
Aisha Hussain
Wait, I thought unemployment wasn't taxable? That's so unfair, we're already struggling and then they tax us on the help we get??
0 coins
Zara Shah
•I understand the frustration, but unemployment has always been taxable income federally. Some states don't tax it though. The idea is that it's replacing your regular wages, which would have been taxed anyway.
0 coins
Ethan Clark
Been dealing with taxes on my UI benefits for years unfortunately. The good news is if you had the standard withholding and your income was low, you'll probably get most of it back. I usually get about 80% of what they withheld returned to me.
0 coins