what is the highest rate of unemployment the past five years - NYS Department of Labor stats?
I'm trying to understand unemployment trends for a research project and wondering if anyone knows what the highest unemployment rate has been over the last five years in New York? I've been looking at the NYS Department of Labor website but can't find clear historical data that shows the peak rates. Does anyone have experience finding this information or know where to look? I'm particularly interested in how the pandemic affected the numbers and if we've recovered to pre-2020 levels.
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Andre Laurent
The NYS Department of Labor publishes monthly unemployment statistics on their website. From what I remember, New York hit around 15-16% unemployment in April 2020 during the initial lockdowns. That was definitely the highest in recent years. Before that, unemployment was around 3.8% in early 2020. You can find the historical data in their Labor Market Information section under monthly press releases.
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Carmen Diaz
•Thanks! I'll check out the Labor Market Information section. Do you know if those numbers include people who were on standby status or just regular UI claims?
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Emily Jackson
yeah it was CRAZY high in 2020... i remember because i got laid off in march and it took forever to get through to the NYS Department of Labor phone lines. everyone was filing at the same time
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Liam Mendez
The Bureau of Labor Statistics also tracks state-level unemployment rates if you want federal data to compare. New York's peak was actually higher than the national average during 2020. The recovery has been steady but we're still not quite back to pre-pandemic levels in all sectors. Construction and hospitality took the biggest hits and longest to recover.
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Sophia Nguyen
•This is really helpful context. I had no idea New York was hit harder than other states. Makes sense given how service-heavy the economy is here.
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Jacob Smithson
If you're having trouble navigating the NYS Department of Labor website for this data, you might want to try calling them directly. I know their phone lines are usually swamped, but I recently discovered this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that helps you get through to actual agents. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI showing how it works. Could be useful if you need specific clarification on how they calculate these rates.
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Carmen Diaz
•Interesting, I didn't know there were services to help with NYS Department of Labor calls. Might be worth trying if I can't find what I need online.
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Isabella Brown
The unemployment system was completely overwhelmed in 2020. I think the rates were actually higher than reported because so many people couldn't even file their claims initially due to website crashes and adjudication backlogs. The NYS Department of Labor wasn't prepared for that volume.
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