If you’re watching the economy and starting to get worried about being laid off from your current job, there’s a tiny bit of good news for you in the recently passed state budget.

Unemployment benefits are set to increase from $504 per week to $869 per week starting in October of this year.

The governor and the Legislature decided to use money from the state’s rainy day fund to pay off New York’s entire $6.5 billion unemployment insurance debt to the federal government.

The debt had been accumulating since the economic crisis sparked by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

State Labor Commissioner Roberta Reardon discussed the unemployment benefit increase as well as the state’s investment in child care and workforce development with Capital Tonight’s Susan Arbetter.