NYS Department of Labor - what are the five types of unemployment eligibility requirements?
I'm trying to understand if I qualify for benefits and keep seeing references to different types of unemployment situations. Can someone explain what the five main types of unemployment are that NYS Department of Labor recognizes? I was laid off from my retail job last month but want to make sure I understand all the categories before I file my claim. My manager said something about structural vs cyclical unemployment but I'm confused about how this affects my eligibility.
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Javier Morales
The five basic types economists talk about are: 1) Frictional unemployment (between jobs), 2) Structural unemployment (skills mismatch), 3) Cyclical unemployment (economic downturns), 4) Seasonal unemployment (weather/holiday dependent work), and 5) Technological unemployment (automation replacing workers). For NYS Department of Labor purposes though, what matters more is whether you're unemployed through no fault of your own and meet the work history requirements.
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Natasha Petrova
•Thanks! So my retail layoff would probably be cyclical unemployment since it was due to reduced sales this quarter?
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Emma Davis
yeah but honestly for filing your UI claim with NYS Department of Labor, they don't really care about these academic categories. They just want to know if you were fired for misconduct, quit voluntarily, or were laid off. As long as you were laid off and have enough work credits, you should qualify.
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GalaxyGlider
•Exactly this. The economic theory stuff doesn't impact your actual claim filing process at all.
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Malik Robinson
I had trouble reaching NYS Department of Labor to ask about my specific situation, but I found claimyr.com really helpful for getting through to an actual agent. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI that shows how it works. Saved me hours of calling and getting busy signals when I needed to verify my claim status.
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Natasha Petrova
•Did you have to pay for that service? I'm already struggling financially and can't afford extra fees.
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Malik Robinson
•It was worth it for me to get answers quickly instead of spending days trying to get through on my own. The peace of mind was valuable when my claim was in adjudication.
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Isabella Silva
omg I'm so confused about this stuff too! I thought there were only like 2 types - unemployed or employed lol. This is way more complicated than I expected when I lost my job.
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Javier Morales
•Don't worry about the technical categories! Just focus on documenting that your job loss wasn't your fault and gathering your work history for the past 18 months.
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Ravi Choudhury
THE NYS DEPARTMENT OF LABOR SYSTEM IS SO CONFUSING!!! They make everything needlessly complicated with all these different terms and categories. Just file your claim and answer their questions honestly - don't overthink the economic theory behind it.
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Freya Andersen
•I feel you on the frustration! The whole process feels designed to discourage people from applying.
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