What is the unemployment pay amount in NY - how much can I expect?
I'm about to file for unemployment benefits for the first time and trying to figure out what the unemployment pay actually is. I've been working full-time making about $850 per week gross for the past 18 months at a retail management job. Does anyone know how NYS Department of Labor calculates the weekly benefit amount? I heard it's based on your earnings but I can't find clear info on their website about the actual formula they use. Also wondering if there's a minimum or maximum amount they pay out? Really need to budget for this transition period.
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Andre Dupont
NYS Department of Labor calculates your weekly benefit rate using your highest quarter earnings from your base period. Generally it's about 50% of your average weekly wage, but there's a maximum weekly benefit amount that changes each year. For 2025, the max is around $504 per week. Since you were making $850/week, you'd probably get close to that maximum amount. You can get an estimate by logging into your my.ny.gov account and using their benefit calculator.
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Carmen Sanchez
•Thanks! That's actually higher than I expected. Do you know if that $504 is before or after taxes? I assume I'll owe taxes on unemployment benefits.
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Zoe Papadakis
yeah the unemployment pay isnt bad in NY compared to other places. i was getting like $430 a week when i was laid off last year. just make sure you file your weekly claims on time every week or they'll hold up your payments
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Carmen Sanchez
•Good point about the weekly claims. How strict are they about the filing deadlines?
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ThunderBolt7
The $504 maximum is before taxes. You can choose to have federal and state taxes withheld from your weekly benefits, or you can pay quarterly estimated taxes instead. I'd recommend having them withhold taxes so you don't get hit with a big bill next year. Also, your benefit amount depends on your base period wages - they look at the first 4 of the last 5 completed quarters before you file your claim.
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Carmen Sanchez
•That makes sense about the base period. I've been at this job for over a year so that should work in my favor.
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Jamal Edwards
One thing that really helped me when I was trying to reach NYS Department of Labor about my benefit calculation was using this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com). They basically get you through to an actual agent instead of dealing with the busy signals and disconnections. There's a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI that shows how it works. Saved me hours of calling and I got my questions answered in like 20 minutes.
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Mei Chen
•Never heard of that but sounds useful. The NYS Department of Labor phone system is absolutely terrible.
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Liam O'Sullivan
Don't forget you also have to meet the job search requirements to keep getting your unemployment pay. NYS Department of Labor requires you to make at least 3 job contacts per week and keep a log of your search activities. They can ask to see your job search log at any time, so make sure you're documenting everything properly.
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