Don't forget about the Reemployment Services and Eligibility Assessment (RESEA) program if you get selected. It's mandatory but they provide personalized job search assistance and can connect you to additional resources. Also, if you're thinking about starting your own business, look into the Self-Employment Assistance Program - you can use your unemployment benefits to support yourself while getting a business off the ground.

make sure ur keeping detailed records of everything!! job search log, any training you do, correspondence with employers. if they ever audit your claim you want to have everything documented

If you're having trouble getting through to NYS Department of Labor by phone to ask questions about your eligibility, I found this service called Claimyr that actually gets you connected to a real agent. Check out claimyr.com - they have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI that shows how it works. I was stuck trying to reach someone for days until I used their service and got through in like 20 minutes. Really helped me understand my claim status and what I needed to do next.

Same boat as you last year! Unemployment insurance benefit basically replaces part of your lost income while you search for work. Think of it as temporary financial assistance that you earned through working. The key things to remember: file immediately, be honest about your job search, and keep detailed records of where you apply. NYS Department of Labor will send you information about job search requirements once your claim is processed.

I had such a nightmare trying to get through to NYS Department of Labor to ask similar questions about my claim. Spent hours on hold just to get disconnected. Finally found this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that actually got me connected to a real person at NYS Department of Labor within like 20 minutes. They have a video demo showing how it works: https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI. Totally worth it when you need actual answers instead of guessing about stuff like unemployment rates affecting benefits.

The unemployment rate when any president leaves office doesn't matter for your personal UI benefits lol. But yeah it was around 3.8% nationally when Biden left in January. In NY specifically it was probably similar. Your $420/week sounds about right depending on what you were making before. Just keep doing your weekly certifications and job searches.

Wait I'm confused about this too. I thought if you work any amount you have to start over completely? I've been avoiding taking any short term work because I was afraid of losing my benefits. How many weeks can you work before it resets everything?

The whole unemployment spell tracking is mostly for research purposes anyway. What matters for your benefits is your claim effective date and benefit year end date. As long as you're within your benefit year and have weeks remaining, temporary work won't disrupt your ongoing claim status.

just to clarify - you CANNOT collect both workers comp and unemployment at the same time. they're mutually exclusive. if you're on workers comp you're not available for work so you don't qualify for NYS Department of Labor benefits

One more thing - if your workers comp gets denied (which happens more than it should), THEN you might be able to apply for unemployment if you end up losing your job over the injury. But that's a worst case scenario. File the workers comp claim first and see what happens.