How much is unemployment NYC - NYS Department of Labor weekly benefit amounts?
I just got laid off from my job in Brooklyn and need to file for unemployment. I'm trying to figure out how much money I can expect to get each week from NYS Department of Labor. My salary was around $65,000 before taxes. Does anyone know what the weekly benefit amounts are right now in NYC? I heard it depends on your previous earnings but I can't find clear info on the NYS Department of Labor website about the actual dollar amounts.
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Oliver Zimmermann
The weekly benefit amount is calculated based on your highest quarter earnings in your base period. For 2025, the maximum weekly benefit in NY is $504. You get roughly 50% of your average weekly wage up to that max. With a $65k salary, you'd probably get close to the maximum since that works out to about $1,250 per week gross.
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Amina Toure
•Thanks! So I should expect around $500 per week then? That would really help with rent and bills while I'm job searching.
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CosmicCommander
yeah the max is like 504 or something but you gotta work for it lol. depends on how much you made in your base period quarters. if you just started working recently you might not qualify for the full amount
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Natasha Volkova
The formula is: take your highest quarter earnings, divide by 26, then that's your weekly benefit rate (up to the $504 max). You also need to have worked in at least 2 quarters and earned enough total wages to qualify. The NYS Department of Labor will calculate this automatically when you file your claim online.
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Javier Torres
•Wait, is it really divide by 26? I thought it was different than that. The whole calculation seems confusing and the my.ny.gov site doesn't explain it clearly.
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Natasha Volkova
•Yes, it's your highest quarter divided by 26 weeks. The NYS Department of Labor uses this to determine your weekly benefit rate. You can also call them to verify but good luck getting through - their phone lines are always busy.
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Emma Davis
I had the same question when I filed last year! Getting through to NYS Department of Labor by phone was impossible - kept getting busy signals or hung up on after waiting forever. I ended up using a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that helped me reach an actual agent who explained my benefit calculation. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI showing how it works. Turned out I was getting the max weekly amount but didn't realize it until I spoke with someone.
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Amina Toure
•Interesting, never heard of that service. Did it actually work to get you connected to NYS Department of Labor? I'm dreading having to call them.
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Emma Davis
•Yeah it worked really well. Much easier than trying to call NYS Department of Labor directly. The agent I spoke with was super helpful and explained exactly how my benefits were calculated.
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Malik Johnson
Just remember you have to pay taxes on unemployment benefits! A lot of people forget that and get surprised at tax time. You can have taxes withheld from your weekly payments or pay quarterly.
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Isabella Ferreira
Good luck with everything! Being unemployed in NYC is stressful enough without having to figure out all the NYS Department of Labor stuff. At least the benefits help cover some expenses while you're looking for work.
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