Weekly benefit amount and weeks in New York

The weekly benefit

Weekly benefit

$140–$869

Maximum: the first Monday of October 2025 (October 6, 2025); the minimum is $140 as of January 2026

How it is figured

If you were paid in all four base-period quarters, your weekly benefit is your highest-quarter wages divided by 26 (divided by 25 if that quarter was $3,575 or less). If you were paid in only two or three quarters and your highest quarter was more than $4,000, it is the average of your two highest quarters divided by 26. If your highest quarter is more than $3,575, your rate is at least $143. Amounts are rounded down to the dollar. The maximum is $869 a week and the minimum is $140. Use NYSDOL's benefit rate calculator for an estimate.

Official

Official table or notice

Law: N.Y. Labor Law sec. 590(5)

The wage test

For claims filed in 2026, you must have been paid wages in at least two calendar quarters, at least $3,500 in one quarter, and total base-period wages of at least 1.5 times your highest quarter. If your highest quarter was $19,118 or more, you need at least $9,559 in the other three quarters combined.

The Basic Base Period is the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters before the quarter you file. If you do not have enough wages in it, NYSDOL uses the Alternate Base Period: the last four completed quarters. If you qualify under the Basic Base Period but think the Alternate would give a higher rate, you can ask for a recalculation within 10 days of the initial notice. If you received workers' compensation or volunteer firefighter benefits, the base period may be extended back up to two quarters.

The state's wage tests

• Wages in two quarters, $3,500 in one quarter, and total wages at least 1.5 times your highest quarter — For the 1.5 times test, no more than $19,118 of your highest quarter counts: if your highest quarter was $19,118 or more, you need at least $9,559 in the other base-period quarters. The $3,500 amount is for claims filed in 2026 ($3,400 in 2025).

Law: N.Y. Labor Law sec. 527

Official source: Source page

How long it lasts

Up to 26 weeks.

Your claim lasts one benefit year, and during that year you can receive up to 26 times your full weekly rate. Weeks of partial benefits use up less, so they stretch your benefits over more weeks.

Extra weeks and training

If you are in approved training, you may get additional benefits while you finish the training.

Source: the Section 599 training program

Law: N.Y. Labor Law secs. 590(4), 599

Official source: Source page

Waiting week

Your first effective week of unemployment is an unpaid waiting period. You must still certify for it.

Law: N.Y. Labor Law sec. 590(7)

Official source: Source page

Working part time

If you work 30 hours or fewer in a week and earn no more than the maximum benefit rate ($869) in gross pay, you can get partial benefits. Your benefit is cut by hours, not dollars: 0-10 hours worked = full benefit; 11-16 hours = 75%; 17-21 hours = 50%; 22-30 hours = 25%; 31 or more hours = no benefit. Count no more than 10 hours for any one day. If your gross pay for the week is more than $869, you get no benefits that week however few hours you worked.

Law: N.Y. Labor Law sec. 590(5)(c)

Official source: Source page

What applies in every state

• You must have earned enough wages, or worked enough, during a period called the base period. In most states it is the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters before you file.
• It generally takes two to three weeks after you file to get your first payment. Some states require a one-week waiting period, so the second week you claim is the first week paid.
• Unemployment benefits count as income for federal income tax. You must report them on your federal tax return.

  Law: 26 U.S.C. 85(a)

Free help

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