What happens when unemployment goes up - NYS Department of Labor claim increase affecting processing times?

Yes, when unemployment rates increase, NYS Department of Labor gets overwhelmed with new claims and the whole system slows down. More people filing means more adjudication cases, longer phone wait times, and delayed payments. Your 6-week adjudication isn't unusual during high-volume periods. The department prioritizes getting through the backlog but it takes time to hire and train additional staff to handle the surge.

same thing happened to me during the last recession, took almost 8 weeks for my claim to get approved when unemployment spiked

Higher unemployment typically means several things for active claimants: 1) Longer processing times for new claims due to volume, 2) More scrutiny during adjudication as they try to prevent fraud, 3) Increased competition for available jobs which can affect your job search requirements, and 4) Potential changes to benefit duration if federal extensions are triggered. Keep filing your weekly claims and maintain your job search log - the system will backpay you once approved.

I had trouble reaching anyone at NYS Department of Labor for weeks during my adjudication. Finally used this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that helped me get through to an actual agent. They have a video showing how it works at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI. Made the whole process way less stressful than trying to call 100 times a day.

This whole system is a JOKE! When unemployment goes up they should be PREPARED for more claims but instead we get stuck waiting months for our money while bills pile up. How is 6+ weeks acceptable for adjudication?? They had plenty of time to figure this out after 2020 but here we are again with the same problems.

Higher unemployment also means more job search requirements scrutiny. They're checking job search logs more carefully when there are lots of claimants. Make sure you're documenting everything properly because they're cracking down during high-volume periods.

I'm going through the same thing right now - filed my claim 7 weeks ago and still waiting on adjudication. It's really frustrating because I keep hearing different timelines from different people. Some say it's normal during high unemployment periods, others say to be concerned if it goes past 6 weeks. Has anyone had success getting updates by calling the main number or is it better to try reaching out through the website? I'm trying to stay patient but my savings are running low and I need to know if there's anything I can do to speed up the process.