NYS Department of Labor claims down but unemployment still high - what's going on?
I've been tracking unemployment numbers and something doesn't add up. NYS Department of Labor shows fewer people filing claims, but I know tons of folks still can't find work. My theory is that prison labor is keeping wages so low that regular jobs don't pay enough to live on, so people just stop looking and drop out of the system entirely. Anyone else notice this? When companies can get work done for pennies through prison contracts, why would they hire us at minimum wage? How is this affecting unemployment calculations?
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Samantha Hall
There's definitely a connection between incarceration rates and unemployment statistics. When people are released, they face huge barriers to employment due to background checks. This creates a cycle where people can't find legitimate work, and it affects the overall job market. NYS Department of Labor doesn't count people who've stopped actively searching, so the numbers can be misleading.
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Noah Torres
•Exactly! And while they're inside, they're doing work that used to be done by regular employees. It's a double hit to the job market.
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Ryan Young
this is way too political for an unemployment forum. stick to filing weekly claims and adjudication stuff
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Sophia Clark
•Actually this affects all of us looking for work. If you can't see how prison labor impacts the job market, you're not paying attention.
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Katherine Harris
The statistics are more complex than that. NYS Department of Labor measures unemployment based on people actively seeking work. If someone stops looking, they're not counted as unemployed - they're considered out of the labor force. This has always been an issue with how unemployment is calculated, regardless of prison labor.
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Noah Torres
•But don't you think the reasons people stop looking have changed? When legitimate jobs pay the same as what prisoners make, what's the point?
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Madison Allen
I've been trying to get through to NYS Department of Labor for weeks about my claim status and can never reach anyone. If you're having trouble getting hold of them, there's a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that helps you actually connect with agents. They have a demo video at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI showing how it works. Might be worth checking out if you need to discuss how employment history affects your benefits.
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Joshua Wood
•Thanks for this! I've been on hold for hours trying to get answers about my job search requirements.
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Justin Evans
This is exactly why I gave up on my UI claim. The whole system is rigged. Companies exploit prison labor, pay us nothing, then we get blamed for not working hard enough. NYS Department of Labor just pushes us through their broken job search requirements while ignoring the real problems.
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Samantha Hall
•I understand your frustration, but giving up on benefits you're entitled to only hurts you. The system has problems, but you still need to eat while we work on fixing it.
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Emily Parker
wow never thought about it this way but makes sense. no wonder my factory job disappeared
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