NYS Department of Labor unemployment rates dropping but claim processing still terrible?
I keep hearing on the news that unemployment is really down nationwide but my experience with NYS Department of Labor has been absolutely horrible this year. Filed my claim in October after getting laid off from my marketing job and it's been nothing but problems. First my weekly claims kept getting flagged for no reason, then I got stuck in adjudication for 6 weeks over some confusion about my last day of work. Even now that it's finally resolved I'm still having issues with the job search requirements - the system keeps rejecting my job contacts even though I'm following all the rules. Are unemployment rates actually going down or is NYS Department of Labor just making it impossible for people to get benefits? Anyone else dealing with this mess?
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Javier Garcia
The unemployment rates you see on the news are based on people actively looking for work, not people receiving benefits. NYS Department of Labor claim processing issues don't really affect those statistics. The adjudication delays you experienced are unfortunately common - they have to verify employment history and sometimes that takes weeks. For the job search contacts, make sure you're entering the employer name exactly as it appears on their website and include a contact method that actually works.
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NebulaNomad
•Thanks that makes sense about the statistics. I've been really careful with the job search entries but maybe I need to double check the employer names again.
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Emma Taylor
oh my god yes!! the whole system is a nightmare. my claim got denied twice because of some stupid technicality and now im appealing. how can unemployment be down when they make it so hard to even get benefits??
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Javier Garcia
•The appeal process is separate from the statistics. Most people who lose their jobs either find new work quickly or aren't eligible for UI benefits in the first place, so they don't show up in the unemployment numbers at all.
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Malik Robinson
I had similar problems reaching anyone at NYS Department of Labor to sort out my adjudication issues. Spent weeks calling and getting nowhere. Finally used a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that gets you through to an actual agent. There's a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI that shows how it works. Honestly saved me so much frustration - got my issues resolved in one phone call instead of weeks of trying.
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Isabella Silva
•How much does something like that cost? I'm already struggling financially and can't afford to pay extra just to talk to someone at NYS Department of Labor.
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Malik Robinson
•It's worth checking out the demo to see if it makes sense for your situation. For me the time savings alone made it worthwhile since I was losing money every week my claim was delayed.
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Ravi Choudhury
Same boat here. Got laid off in September and the whole process has been a disaster. My weekly claims keep getting kicked back for random reasons and customer service is impossible to reach. If unemployment is really down why is NYS Department of Labor still operating like they're overwhelmed?
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CosmosCaptain
•The system problems aren't really related to how many people are unemployed. NYS Department of Labor has had these issues for years, even before the pandemic. Have you tried filing your weekly claims at different times? Sometimes the system works better late at night or early morning.
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Freya Johansen
honestly the unemployment numbers are probably fake anyway. they dont count people who gave up looking or people like us who cant even get through the system to file properly
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