NYS Department of Labor unemployment numbers seem off - anyone else notice this?
Been looking at the NYS Department of Labor unemployment numbers they publish monthly and something seems weird. Last I checked they're saying the rate is around 4.2% but when I talk to people in my area everyone's either out of work or knows someone who is. My neighbor's been on UI for 8 months, my cousin can't find anything even with a college degree, and half the people at my old job got laid off in December. Are these unemployment numbers accurate or am I missing something? Does NYS Department of Labor count people who stopped looking or whose benefits ran out?
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Logan Stewart
The unemployment rate only counts people actively looking for work and filing claims. Once your benefits expire or you stop searching, you're not included in those NYS Department of Labor statistics anymore. There's also underemployment - people working part-time who want full-time work aren't counted as unemployed even though they're struggling financially.
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Diego Castillo
•That makes sense why the numbers seem low then. My neighbor's benefits ended but he's still looking, just not through NYS Department of Labor anymore.
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Mikayla Brown
yeah the real unemployment numbers are definitely higher than what they report, they dont count discouraged workers or people doing gig work just to survive
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Sean Matthews
You can find the detailed breakdown on the NYS Department of Labor website under labor statistics. They publish both the standard U-3 rate (what gets reported in news) and U-6 which includes underemployed and marginally attached workers. The U-6 rate is usually about double the headline number. Also check the labor force participation rate - if that's dropping it means people are giving up looking.
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Ali Anderson
•This is super helpful! I had no idea there were different ways to measure unemployment. Going to look up that U-6 number now.
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Zadie Patel
I've been trying to get through to NYS Department of Labor for weeks about my claim status and the phone lines are always jammed. If the unemployment rate was really that low you'd think they wouldn't be so overwhelmed with calls. Someone told me about this service called Claimyr that helps you get through to agents - check out claimyr.com or their demo video at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI. Might be worth trying if you need to talk to someone about your benefits.
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A Man D Mortal
•Never heard of that service but honestly anything that helps get through to NYS Department of Labor sounds good to me. Been calling for 3 weeks straight.
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Declan Ramirez
The whole system is rigged to make the numbers look better than reality!! They change the formulas every few years and don't count people who want to work but gave up. My brother's been out of work for a year and he's not in their precious statistics anymore.
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A Man D Mortal
Same experience here - everyone I know is struggling to find decent work but the news keeps saying unemployment is low. Makes you wonder if they're measuring the right things.
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