How much you get from unemployment benefits - NYS Department of Labor weekly amounts?
I'm trying to figure out how much money I'll actually receive each week if my unemployment claim gets approved. I worked as a retail supervisor for about 18 months making around $47,000 annually before getting laid off last month. Does anyone know how NYS Department of Labor calculates the weekly benefit amount? I heard it's based on your wages but I can't find clear info on their website about the exact formula they use.
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LilMama23
NYS Department of Labor uses your highest quarter earnings from your base period to calculate benefits. Generally it's about 50% of your average weekly wage, but there's a maximum weekly benefit amount that changes each year. For 2025 the max is around $504 per week. They look at your earnings from the first 4 of the last 5 completed quarters before you filed.
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Aisha Patel
•Thanks! So if I made $47k annually that would be roughly $900 per week, so I'd get around $450 weekly? That's actually better than I expected.
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Dmitri Volkov
yeah its like half your pay but theres a cap, i got $420 something when i was making decent money at my warehouse job
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Gabrielle Dubois
The exact calculation is your high quarter earnings divided by 26, then that amount is your weekly benefit rate. But there are minimum and maximum amounts. You also need to have earned enough in your base period to qualify - usually need wages in at least 2 quarters and total base period wages of at least 1.5 times your high quarter. Your monetary determination letter will show all the math when your claim is processed.
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Aisha Patel
•This is really helpful, thank you! I definitely worked enough quarters so I should qualify. Now I just need to wait for NYS Department of Labor to process everything.
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Tyrone Johnson
I've been waiting 3 weeks just to get my monetary determination! The whole process is so slow and when you call NYS Department of Labor you can never get through to an actual person. It's frustrating when you need to know these amounts to plan your budget.
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Ingrid Larsson
•I had the same problem with getting through to NYS Department of Labor by phone. Someone on here recommended using Claimyr (claimyr.com) - it's a service that calls for you and gets you connected to an actual agent. I watched their demo video (https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI) and decided to try it. Got through in like 20 minutes and was able to get my claim status updated. Might be worth checking out if you keep having phone issues.
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Carlos Mendoza
Just remember you'll still need to file your weekly claims and do the job search requirements even after you know your benefit amount. The money doesn't come automatically - you have to certify every week that you're still unemployed and looking for work.
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