What is the rate for unemployment benefits in NY - need to know weekly amount
I'm trying to figure out what the actual unemployment rate is that NYS Department of Labor pays out weekly. My sister got laid off from her retail job last month making $18/hour and she's wondering what she can expect to receive. I'm helping her navigate this since she's never filed before. Does anyone know the current weekly benefit amount or how they calculate it? She worked there for about 2 years full time before getting let go due to store closure.
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Brady Clean
The NYS Department of Labor calculates your weekly benefit rate based on your earnings during your base period, which is typically the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters. The maximum weekly benefit amount for 2025 is $504, but most people get less than that. They take your highest quarter earnings, divide by 26, then multiply by 50%. So if she made $9,000 in her highest earning quarter, that would be roughly $173 per week.
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Molly Hansen
•That helps a lot! She probably made around $8,500 in her best quarter so sounds like she'd get maybe $160 or so weekly. How long can she collect for?
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Skylar Neal
yeah the calculation is confusing but basically its about half your average weekly pay up to the max. i was making $600/week and got $300 in UI benefits. your sister should file asap though because there's a waiting week and it can take time to process
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Vincent Bimbach
•Actually there's no waiting week anymore in NY, they eliminated that. But you're right about filing quickly - the sooner she files the sooner payments can start.
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Kelsey Chin
I've been trying to get through to NYS Department of Labor for weeks about my benefit calculation because I think they made an error. Their phone lines are always busy and the callback system never works. Has anyone found a way to actually talk to a real person there?
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Norah Quay
•I had the same problem until someone told me about Claimyr. It's a service that helps you get through to NYS Department of Labor agents by handling the calling for you. Check out claimyr.com - they have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI that shows how it works. I used it last month and finally got my benefit rate issue resolved after weeks of trying on my own.
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Kelsey Chin
•That sounds too good to be true but at this point I'm desperate. The automated system keeps hanging up on me after 30 minutes on hold.
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Leo McDonald
The whole system is a joke honestly. I qualified for the maximum $504 but they reduced it to $380 because of some mysterious calculation error that nobody can explain to me. Been fighting this for months.
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Jessica Nolan
•That's frustrating! Did you try requesting a hearing? Sometimes that's the only way to get these calculation issues properly reviewed.
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