What is the actual rate of unemployment in NY - NYS Department of Labor numbers confusing?
I keep seeing different unemployment numbers everywhere and I'm confused about what's actually happening in New York. The NYS Department of Labor website shows one rate, news says another, and my job counselor mentioned something totally different. Are these official numbers accurate or are they missing people like me who've been looking for work for months? I've been filing my weekly claims but wondering if I'm even counted in these statistics they keep talking about. Does anyone know how they actually calculate the unemployment rate and if it reflects what's really going on?
8 comments
Join the conversation
Anthony Young
The NYS Department of Labor uses the Bureau of Labor Statistics methodology which only counts people actively receiving UI benefits or actively job searching. If you're filing weekly claims, you're definitely counted. The rate you see on news vs NYS Department of Labor site might be different timeframes - they usually report monthly data with a lag.
0 coins
Aurora Lacasse
•That makes sense about the lag time. I didn't realize there was a difference between who gets counted and who doesn't.
0 coins
Charlotte White
The official rate misses a lot of people honestly. If you've exhausted your benefits or stopped looking temporarily, you're not counted even if you're still unemployed. Also doesn't count people working part-time who want full-time work. The real picture is probably worse than the official NYS Department of Labor numbers show.
0 coins
Admin_Masters
•This is so true! My cousin ran out of benefits months ago but is still unemployed and he's not in their statistics anymore.
0 coins
Matthew Sanchez
I had trouble getting through to NYS Department of Labor to check my claim status last month, but found this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that helped me reach an agent quickly. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI showing how it works. Might be useful if you need to verify your claim is being counted properly in their system.
0 coins
Ella Thompson
•Never heard of that but if it helps get through to someone at NYS Department of Labor it might be worth trying. Their phone lines are always busy.
0 coins
JacksonHarris
the unemployment rate is calculated by dividing unemployed people by the total labor force but like others said it doesnt count discouraged workers or people who gave up looking temporarily so its not the whole picture
0 coins
Jeremiah Brown
Yeah the numbers are definitely confusing. I think as long as you're filing your weekly claims with NYS Department of Labor you're being counted in their data. But there's probably a lot of people not captured in the official statistics.
0 coins