Governor Hochul Raises Unemployment Benefits Amid Shutdown Crisis

There's good news for unemployed New Yorkers. The economy has continued to crash since January and people are losing their jobs left and right. Things are a mess in America. Our government has been shut down since October 1, 2025. The longest federal government shutdown was 34 days under Trump. The government was shut down for 34 days from December 21, 2018 to January 25, 2019, according to Time.

There's no telling how long this shut down will continue, but with Republicans in control of the White House, Congress, and the Supreme Court, one can only hope that they can get it together and back on track. Even the federal government says that the sconmy is tanking even more due to the shutdown. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox Business, "This is getting serious. It's starting to affect the real economy."

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For New Yorkers who have been hit hard by the horrible economy and suffered a job loss, there is some good news. Losing your job sucks, but Governor Kathy Hochul and New York State are offering increased unemplyment benefits. Beginning this week, the maximum unemployment benefits will jump from $500 to $800. The increase is due to the state paying off a $7 billion federal loan that was used to support the state's unemployment fund during the pandemic, per WHEC.

The amount of unemployment money a person receives is based on how much they earned at their job before being fired. The state has a tool to help New Yorkers figure out how much they will get in benefits, which can be found here.