I went through this exact situation about a year ago. In addition to what others mentioned, definitely check if your county has a "One-Stop" career center - they often have emergency assistance funds and can help with resume writing and job placement. Also, if you have any unpaid wages from your previous employer, you can file a wage claim with NYS Department of Labor even if you were denied UI benefits. That helped me recover about $800 I was owed. Don't give up on the appeal either - bring any pay stubs or W-2s you have to show your work history. The system can be confusing but there are people who want to help you navigate it.

I'm in a similar situation right now - just got denied last week for the same reason (not enough hours in base period). One thing I learned is that you should also check if you qualify for Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) or any extended benefits if you had any UI claims in the past few years. Also, your local community college might have emergency student aid if you're considering going back to school - some programs are specifically for people who lost jobs. The financial aid office can sometimes help even if you're not enrolled yet. Hang in there - this community has been really helpful for me in figuring out all these different programs I never knew existed.

One more thing - make sure you file your claim as soon as possible after your hours get reduced. You can't get benefits for weeks before you actually file, so don't wait thinking you might get more hours back.

@cc48bca1aca9 For the wage requirement, you generally need to have earned at least $2,600 in your base period (first 4 of last 5 quarters) with earnings in at least 2 quarters. Since you worked full-time for 2 years, you should easily meet this. Also, when filing your weekly claims, be very precise about reporting your reduced hours and earnings - even small mistakes can delay your payments. The online system lets you file claims Sunday night through Friday, and I'd recommend doing it the same day each week to stay consistent.

To answer your tax question from earlier - you can choose to have 10% federal taxes withheld from your UI payments, but you'll still owe state taxes at the end of the year. Many people don't realize unemployment benefits count as income for tax purposes and get surprised come tax season.

Another thing to consider is that if you receive any severance pay, it might affect when you can start collecting benefits. NYS Department of Labor has specific rules about how severance is treated - sometimes you have to wait until your severance period ends before you're eligible. Also, if you do any freelance or part-time work while collecting, you have to report it and it can reduce your weekly benefit amount. Just make sure you're completely honest about any income because they do cross-check with other state agencies.

If you're having trouble getting through to the NYS Department of Labor to ask questions about job market conditions or your claim status, I used a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that helped me reach an actual agent. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI that shows how it works. Really helped when I couldn't get through the regular phone lines to discuss my job search requirements.

Economics is weird but basically full employment is when everyone who wants a job can find one relatively quickly. The actual percentage changes over time but it's usually considered somewhere between 4-5%. During the 2008 recession unemployment hit like 10% which was way above full employment.

Just a heads up - if you received a large amount in unemployment benefits and didn't have taxes withheld, you might want to consider making estimated tax payments for 2025 if you're still receiving benefits. The IRS can charge penalties if you owe too much at filing time.

I'm in a similar situation and just wanted to share what I learned from my tax preparer. If you didn't have taxes withheld, you'll likely need to pay quarterly estimated taxes going forward to avoid underpayment penalties. The safe harbor rule is to pay at least 90% of this year's tax liability or 100% of last year's (110% if your AGI was over $150K). Also, don't forget that unemployment benefits might push you into a higher tax bracket, so the effective rate could be more than the 22% someone mentioned earlier. I ended up owing about $2,400 on $10,000 in benefits between federal and NY state taxes.