What percent is unemployment rate in NY and how does it affect my NYS Department of Labor benefits?
I keep hearing about unemployment rates on the news but I'm confused about what this actually means for my claim. Does the unemployment rate affect how much I get paid or how long I can collect? My weekly benefit amount is $387 and I've been on unemployment for 8 weeks now. Someone told me that when unemployment rates are high, they extend benefits automatically but I can't find anything about this on the NYS Department of Labor website. Also wondering if the current unemployment rate in NY affects my job search requirements - do I need to apply to more jobs when unemployment is higher?
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Michael Adams
The unemployment rate doesn't directly affect your weekly benefit amount - that's calculated based on your previous earnings. However, extended benefits can sometimes be triggered when unemployment rates reach certain thresholds. Right now NY's unemployment rate is around 4.2% which is considered relatively normal. Your $387 weekly amount stays the same regardless of the overall rate. The job search requirements (3 work search activities per week) also remain constant.
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Chloe Mitchell
•Thanks! So I don't need to worry about my benefits getting cut because of the unemployment rate?
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Natalie Wang
i think youre overthinking this lol. the unemployment rate is just a statistic, it doesnt change your personal claim at all
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Noah Torres
Actually there's more to it than that. Extended Benefits (EB) can be triggered when state unemployment rates hit certain levels compared to previous years. During the recession we had additional weeks available. But right now with rates around 4%, we're nowhere near those triggers. You'll get your standard 26 weeks of regular UI benefits regardless of what the overall rate is doing.
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Samantha Hall
•Wait so if unemployment goes really high they give you more weeks? How high does it have to be?
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Noah Torres
•Generally the state rate needs to be 6.5% and at least 110% of what it was in the same period for the previous two years. It's pretty specific and hasn't happened in NY for a while.
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Ryan Young
I was struggling to get through to NYS Department of Labor to ask about this exact question last month. Kept getting busy signals and hung up on. Finally found this service called Claimyr at claimyr.com that actually got me connected to a real person. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI showing how it works. Turns out my question about unemployment rates was answered in like 2 minutes - they confirmed the rate doesn't affect individual claims.
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Chloe Mitchell
•Interesting, might check that out since I can never get through on the phone either.
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Sophia Clark
The whole unemployment rate thing is just government statistics anyway. What really matters is finding a job! I've been looking for 12 weeks and the market is still tough even with supposedly low unemployment. Don't get too caught up in the numbers.
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