Unemployment Benefit Repayments:

If you are a federal employee who was impacted by the recent federal shutdown and filed an Unemployment Insurance claim in New York, please be advised of the following information:

As the Federal shutdown has come to an end, federal agencies have started to issue retroactive pay to furloughed and excepted employees. The New York State Department of Labor will be sending questionnaires to affected claimants in the coming weeks. These questionnaires will ask you to clarify certain information about your claim, and the back pay that you may have received. Please do not send any reimbursements for any benefits that you have received until you get a determination letter instructing you to do so. Any payments received prior to your determination letter being issued cannot be processed and will not be applied to your account.

If you have any questions, you may contact the telephone claims center at 888-209-8124 to speak with a representative.

Employment Data Update:

Since the end of the federal government shutdown, we began receiving jobs data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

Please Note: Local area unemployment rate data for October 2025 will not be published, as the BLS was unable to collect this information during the federal shutdown. Jobs data for October 2025 is included in the November 2025 press release. The statewide jobs data and local area unemployment rates for November have been released. Check back here for updates.