How much is unemployment now in NYS - what are current weekly benefit amounts?
I'm thinking about filing for unemployment and trying to figure out what the weekly benefit amount would be. Does anyone know how much unemployment pays now in New York? I've been working part-time for the last year making about $18/hour but only getting like 25 hours a week. Not sure if that's enough work history to qualify or what my weekly benefit would be if I do qualify. The NYS Department of Labor website is confusing with all the calculations.
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Amina Sy
The maximum weekly benefit rate for 2025 is $504 per week, but your actual amount depends on your earnings history from your base period. NYS Department of Labor calculates it using your highest quarter of earnings from the past 5-6 quarters. With part-time work at $18/hour for 25 hours weekly, you'd need to look at your total quarterly earnings to get an estimate.
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QuantumQuest
•Thanks! So they look at my highest earning quarter? I had some overtime last summer that boosted one quarter to around $6,800. Would that help my calculation?
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Oliver Fischer
i think its like half your average weekly wage or something like that? but theres also a minimum too i believe
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Natasha Petrova
Your weekly benefit rate is calculated as 1/26th of your highest quarter earnings during your base period, up to the maximum of $504. The minimum weekly benefit is $104. So if your highest quarter was $6,800 like you mentioned, that would be about $261 per week before any partial earnings deductions. You'll also need to meet the work search requirements and file weekly claims to maintain eligibility.
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Javier Morales
•I've been trying to get through to NYS Department of Labor to ask about my benefit calculation for weeks but their phone lines are always busy. Has anyone found a way to actually talk to someone there? I keep getting disconnected after waiting on hold forever.
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Emma Davis
•I had the same problem until someone told me about Claimyr (claimyr.com). They help you get through to NYS Department of Labor agents when you can't reach them yourself. There's a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI that shows how it works. I used it last month and finally got my benefit questions answered after weeks of failed attempts.
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GalaxyGlider
The whole system is so frustrating! I qualified for like $180 a week which barely covers anything these days. Meanwhile my friend who worked construction gets the max $504. It's not fair how they calculate these things based on your previous job when some industries just pay less.
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Malik Robinson
•I feel you on that. The benefit amounts really don't keep up with cost of living increases.
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