New York's maximum unemployment pay leaped to $869 per week from $504 in first increase since 2019 after the state paid a $7 billion pandemic debt.

As fewer people carry cash, vendors, street performers and people experiencing homelessness and unemployment are at a disadvantage.

According to summer 2025 statistics from the United States Department of Labor’s Labor Market briefing, Western New York currently enjoys a pretty low unemployment rate of 4.1%. That’s lower than the overall 4.