STATEWIDE — Starting this month, the maximum weekly benefit for Unemployment Insurance (UI) increases from $504 to $869, Gov. Kathy Hochul and state labor leaders announced Wednesday, Oct. 8. The increase coincides with the stalemate in Congress that led to the federal government’s Oct. 1 shutdown, which has impacted 115,000 federal workers based in New York.

The state’s investment of nearly $7 billion to pay off the federal UI Trust Fund loan, as part of the governor’s Fiscal Year Enacted Budget, made the increase possible. The loan payment brought the fund to solvency and has enabled New York to increase the maximum UI benefit rate to align better with that of other states and build up reserves to stabilize the UI Trust Fund for the future. Recipients will start receiving the increase

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