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Your boyfriend doing DoorDash would actually be counted as employed in the statistics, even if it's not sustainable income. The unemployment rate measures whether people have any work, not whether they have adequate work or work in their field. That's why the underemployment rate and labor force participation rate give a more complete picture of job market health.
I went through something similar when I was trying to understand why I wasn't eligible for extended benefits. The counselor at the workforce center explained that actual unemployment includes people actively searching, but there are also discouraged workers who aren't counted. Plus people working reduced hours, temporary work, or jobs way below their skill level. The 3.8% is just one piece of a bigger puzzle.
Wait I'm confused - do you get money the first week or not? And what if your employer contests the claim? I'm in a similar situation and panicking about how long this might take.
Just went through this myself last month. Filed on a Tuesday, got approved the following Thursday, and received my first payment (covering week 2) three days after that. So about 2.5 weeks total from filing to money in my account. The key is filing immediately and being 100% accurate with your info.
Same thing happened to me at my restaurant job. Manager started scheduling me for like 10 hours a week total, all split shifts that made it impossible to get another job. I documented everything and when I finally quit, NYS Department of Labor approved my claim after adjudication. The key was showing that the hour reduction made the job unsuitable.
I was in a similar situation last year - mostly freelance work but had some regular employment mixed in. The key is understanding what counts toward your base period. NYS Department of Labor only considers W2 wages from employers who paid unemployment taxes on your behalf. 1099 income doesn't count at all unfortunately.
Lucas Parker
I was on unemployment during the 2020 recession and let me tell you, trying to get through to NYS Department of Labor was IMPOSSIBLE back then. Millions of people filing at once completely overwhelmed their phone system. If you ever need to reach them during normal times, I had success using a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that helps you get through to an actual agent. They have a demo video at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI showing how it works. Way better than sitting on hold for hours.
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Declan Ramirez
•That's really helpful! I haven't had issues yet but good to know there are options if I need to talk to someone about my claim status.
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Donna Cline
The whole unemployment system is a joke if you ask me. 'Automatic stabilizer' - more like automatically making people jump through hoops to get benefits they paid into! I've been fighting with NYS Department of Labor for weeks over my adjudication and there's nothing automatic about getting help when you need it.
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Harper Collins
•Sorry you're having troubles with adjudication - that's definitely frustrating. The automatic stabilizer thing is more about the economic theory of how the overall system works rather than individual claim processing unfortunately.
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