How much will unemployment pay - NYS Department of Labor weekly benefit calculation help needed
I just got laid off from my job at a manufacturing plant and need to figure out how much my weekly unemployment benefits will be from NYS Department of Labor. I was making $52,000 a year working full time. Does anyone know how they calculate the weekly amount? I've heard different things about it being based on your highest quarter or some percentage of your wages. Really stressed about covering my rent and bills while I look for work.
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Leslie Parker
NYS Department of Labor calculates your weekly benefit rate using your highest earning quarter from your base period. They take that quarter's wages, divide by 26, then you get roughly half of that amount up to the maximum. For 2025 the max weekly benefit is $504. With your salary you'll probably get close to the maximum but it depends on when you worked and how your wages were distributed across quarters.
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Freya Ross
•Thanks! So if I made around $13,000 in my best quarter that would be $500 divided by 2 = $250 per week? That seems low compared to what I was making.
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Sergio Neal
yeah the unemployment payments are never enough to cover everything unfortunately. i think its like 50% of what you were making but theres a cap. better than nothing though
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Savanna Franklin
The exact formula is: take your highest quarter wages from your base period, divide by 26, then multiply by 0.5. Your base period is usually the first 4 of the last 5 completed calendar quarters before you filed. You can check your wage history on the my.ny.gov portal once your claim is processed. The $504 maximum kicks in if your calculation would be higher than that.
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Juan Moreno
•This is really helpful but I'm confused about the base period thing. If I file in January 2025, what quarters would they look at exactly?
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Savanna Franklin
•For January 2025 filing, your base period would be January-March 2024, April-June 2024, July-September 2024, and October-December 2024. They use the quarter where you earned the most money during that period.
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Amy Fleming
I had trouble getting through to NYS Department of Labor to ask about my benefit calculation when I filed last year. Kept getting busy signals and the online chat was useless. Finally used a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that helped me get through to an actual person who could explain my benefit amount. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI that shows how it works. Saved me hours of calling and getting nowhere.
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Freya Ross
•How much did that cost? I'm already going to be tight on money.
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Amy Fleming
•It was worth it for me because I was able to get my questions answered quickly instead of spending days trying to reach someone. Plus they helped me understand some other stuff about my claim that wasn't clear online.
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Alice Pierce
The NYS Department of Labor system is so confusing with all these calculations. I filed 3 months ago and I'm still not 100% sure they calculated mine correctly but I was afraid to question it and mess up my payments. The whole thing gives me anxiety.
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Esteban Tate
Just remember you also have to pay taxes on unemployment benefits so factor that in when budgeting. They don't automatically withhold taxes unless you request it.
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Freya Ross
•Oh great, another thing to worry about. Can I have them take taxes out automatically?
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Esteban Tate
•Yes, you can elect to have 10% withheld for federal taxes when you file your weekly claims. It's an option in the system.
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