What is EUC unemployment benefits - still available through NYS Department of Labor?

EUC stands for Emergency Unemployment Compensation, but that program ended years ago. It was a federal extension program that provided additional weeks of benefits beyond regular state UI during economic downturns. The last EUC program expired in 2013. What you're looking for now would be Extended Benefits (EB) if NYS Department of Labor has triggered that program, but currently New York's unemployment rate doesn't qualify for EB activation.

yeah i was confused about this too when my benefits ran out last year. euc was like the lifeline during the recession but its been gone for a long time. the only extensions now are EB (extended benefits) which kicks in when unemployment gets really high in the state

You might be thinking of the pandemic-era programs like PEUC (Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation) that ended in 2021. Those were temporary federal extensions. Currently, your options after regular UI exhaustion are limited to Extended Benefits if triggered, or potentially Trade Adjustment Assistance if your job loss was due to foreign trade. Check your my.ny.gov account to see if any additional programs show up for your specific situation.

I was in your exact situation last year and spent weeks trying to get through to NYS Department of Labor to understand my options. The phone lines are always busy and the website doesn't clearly explain what happens after regular benefits end. I finally used a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that helped me get through to an actual agent who explained everything. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI showing how it works. Turned out I wasn't eligible for any extensions, but at least I got a clear answer instead of wondering.

The whole system is so confusing with all these acronyms! EUC, PEUC, EB, PUA... they really should make it clearer what's actually available instead of leaving all these old references floating around online.