HTN: New York is Cheap with Unemployment Benefits

New York has the lowest average unemployment benefit. There are over 500-thousand New Yorkers receiving unemployment benefits from the state. The largest sum anyone can draw is 405 dollars a week, and with an additional short-term 25-dollar stimulus boost. The average check is 314 dollars. Regionally, Connecticut, New Jersey and Pennsylvania clock in at 600-dollars-a-week, while an unemployed Massachusetts worker can get up to 900 a week.

HTN: Yahoo Picks Town of Lockport

Yahoo! has chosen the Town of Lockport for the site of its East Coast Data center. Officials say the site will employ 125 people. The Internet giant will present a site proposal to the Town Planning Board next week, and a public hearing is scheduled for June 30th. Yahoo! has applied for a property tax break for the proposed 190-thousand-square-foot computer service center. The facility will take an estimated 13 months to complete. Yahoo! hopes to break ground in August.

Hometown News: Job Centers Promoted

Responding to tough economic times, Erie County Executive Chris Collins and Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown teamed with the president of ECC to promote two free employment and training centers. The location at 77 Goodell in Buffalo has seen a 90% increase in traffic this past year; while the ECC location on Abbott Road in Orchard Park has seen a 60% increase.

HTN: State Jobless Systems Crashed Yesterday

The state's unemployment claims systems are back up and running, after they crashed Monday from the sheer volume of jobless New Yorkers trying to call or log in at once ahead of this week's filing deadline. As many as ten-thousand people per hour were trying to log into the system. The unemployed can file an on-line claim at labor.ny.gov or toll-free at (888) 209-8124.