NYS Department of Labor claim approved - what was the unemployment rate during previous administration?
Just got my NYS Department of Labor unemployment claim approved after 6 weeks of waiting and I'm curious about something. I keep hearing different numbers about what unemployment was like during the Trump years versus now. Does anyone know what the actual unemployment rate was back then? I'm trying to understand if the job market was really better or if it's just political talk. My claim is for $420/week which seems lower than what I expected based on my previous salary of $65k. Anyone else dealing with benefit calculations that seem off?
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Connor O'Reilly
The national unemployment rate was around 3.5% in 2019 before COVID hit, which was historically low. But that doesn't really affect your NYS Department of Labor weekly benefit amount calculation. Your $420/week sounds about right for a $65k salary - they calculate it based on your highest quarter earnings in your base period, not your annual salary. Did you check your monetary determination letter to see how they calculated it?
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Zainab Yusuf
•I didn't get a monetary determination letter yet, just the approval notice. Should I be worried if I haven't received that?
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Yara Khoury
honestly who cares about old unemployment rates when were all struggling now??? my claim has been in adjudication for 2 months and i cant even get through to anyone at NYS Department of Labor to find out whats happening
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Keisha Taylor
•I had the same problem with adjudication delays. Have you tried using Claimyr? It's a service that helps you get through to NYS Department of Labor agents by phone. I found them at claimyr.com and they have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI that explains how it works. Saved me weeks of trying to call myself.
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Yara Khoury
•Never heard of that but I'll check it out. At this point I'll try anything to get answers about my claim status.
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StardustSeeker
The unemployment rate was definitely lower pre-pandemic but that was before everything changed. What matters more is getting your benefits sorted out correctly. Make sure you're filing your weekly claims on time and keeping up with your job search requirements. NYS Department of Labor is really strict about that 3 job contacts per week rule.
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Zainab Yusuf
•Good point about the job search log. I've been keeping track but wasn't sure if 3 contacts was still the current requirement.
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Paolo Marino
Your benefit calculation seems normal to me. I was making about the same and get $415/week. The system takes your highest earning quarter and divides by 26, so it's not based on your full year salary like some people think.
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Amina Bah
Back to the original question though - unemployment was definitely lower during 2017-2019 but then shot up to like 14% during the pandemic. Now it's back down but job quality seems different somehow. I've been on unemployment twice in the last 3 years and finding decent paying work is harder even though the 'rate' looks good on paper.
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