NYS Department of Labor unemployment rates when Trump left office - how did this affect my benefits?
I'm trying to understand something about my unemployment claim from early 2021. I was laid off in January 2021 right around when Trump left office and the unemployment rate was really high. I remember filing my claim with NYS Department of Labor and the whole process seemed different than what my friends described from before the pandemic. My weekly claims were approved pretty quickly back then but now I'm dealing with a new claim in 2025 and everything seems much stricter. Did the unemployment rates when Trump left office affect how NYS Department of Labor processed claims? I'm wondering if that's why my current claim is taking so much longer to get through adjudication. Anyone else notice differences between filing claims during high unemployment periods versus now?
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Katherine Hunter
Yes, you're absolutely right that unemployment rates affected processing. When Trump left office in January 2021, unemployment was around 6.3% nationally and even higher in NY. NYS Department of Labor had streamlined a lot of processes because of the volume of claims during 2020-2021. They had temporary waivers for job search requirements and faster adjudication for certain types of separations. Now in 2025, unemployment is much lower so they've returned to stricter verification processes and full job search requirements.
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Emma Morales
•That makes so much sense! My 2021 claim barely required any job search documentation but this time they want detailed logs every week.
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Lucas Parker
The processing times are definitely longer now. During peak unemployment periods, NYS Department of Labor had emergency funding to hire temporary staff and extend hours. Now they're back to normal staffing levels but still dealing with system backlogs. If your current claim is stuck in adjudication, you might want to try calling but expect long wait times. I've heard some people use services like Claimyr (claimyr.com) to help get through to actual agents - they have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI that shows how it works.
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Donna Cline
•Never heard of that service but honestly anything is better than sitting on hold for 3 hours just to get disconnected.
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Harper Collins
The whole system is a mess regardless of who's in office! I filed claims during both periods and NYS Department of Labor always finds ways to make things complicated. At least now they're not dealing with all those federal programs that kept changing every few months.
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Kelsey Hawkins
•True, the constant program changes during 2020-2021 were confusing but at least money came faster back then.
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Dylan Fisher
just curious what was the actual unemployment rate in NY when trump left? i remember it being really bad but dont remember exact numbers
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Katherine Hunter
•New York's unemployment rate in January 2021 was around 8.2%, which was significantly higher than the national average. It had peaked at over 15% during 2020.
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