Is unemployment considered government assistance for background checks?

Unemployment insurance isn't typically considered government assistance in the traditional sense. You paid into the UI system through payroll taxes while you were working, so it's more like insurance benefits you earned. Most background check forms are asking about things like SNAP, Medicaid, or housing assistance.

i've filled out tons of these forms and never reported my unemployment benefits as government assistance. never had any issues with background checks because of it

You're overthinking this. Unemployment benefits are insurance payments, not welfare. The NYS Department of Labor administers an insurance program that you contributed to while working. Employers understand that people collect unemployment between jobs - it's normal and expected.

I had this same worry when I was job hunting last year after my layoff. Called the NYS Department of Labor helpline but couldn't get through after waiting forever. Finally used this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that helped me get through to an actual agent who confirmed unemployment isn't what they mean by government assistance on those forms. There's even a video demo showing how it works: https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI. Saved me a lot of stress about the whole background check thing.

honestly this whole system is so confusing they should just be clearer about what they're asking for instead of making us guess