Who measures unemployment rates in NY - confused about NYS Department of Labor statistics
I've been trying to understand how unemployment gets tracked and measured in New York state. I know the NYS Department of Labor handles unemployment claims, but who actually calculates the unemployment rate? Is it the same department that processes my weekly claims? I'm writing a paper for my economics class and getting confused about whether it's federal or state agencies that do the actual measuring. My professor mentioned something about surveys but I can't find clear info on who's responsible for what. Any help would be appreciated!
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Sofia Price
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is the federal agency that measures unemployment rates nationwide, including for New York. They conduct monthly surveys called the Current Population Survey. The NYS Department of Labor works with BLS to provide state-level data and also publishes local employment statistics. So it's a collaboration between federal and state agencies - BLS does the main measuring, NYS Department of Labor provides regional breakdowns and additional analysis.
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Mateo Warren
•That makes sense! So the NYS Department of Labor that handles my unemployment claim is different from the statistical measuring part?
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Alice Coleman
Yeah the unemployment rate comes from surveys, not from actual unemployment claims. They call random households and ask about employment status. It's totally separate from the NYS Department of Labor claims system. I learned this when I was unemployed last year - the number of people filing claims doesn't equal the unemployment rate because lots of people don't qualify for benefits or never file.
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Owen Jenkins
•This is why the unemployment rate can seem lower than reality sometimes. Not everyone who's unemployed shows up in the claims data.
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Lilah Brooks
I was confused about this too when I had trouble reaching the NYS Department of Labor about my claim status. I kept seeing news about unemployment rates but my experience didn't match what they were reporting. Turns out the measuring and the benefits are completely different systems. If you need to actually talk to someone at NYS Department of Labor about claims, I found this service called Claimyr at claimyr.com that helps you get through to agents. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI that explains how it works.
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Jackson Carter
•Interesting, never heard of that service. The phone lines are definitely impossible to get through to.
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Kolton Murphy
The whole system is confusing honestly. You've got federal stats, state claims processing, local job centers... no wonder people get mixed up about who does what!
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