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Lost your job in New Hampshire? How unemployment works

New Hampshire pays regular unemployment insurance through the New Hampshire Employment Security. Weekly benefits run $32–$427 for up to 26 weeks. Maximum benefit amount is the weekly benefit amount times 26 (every claimant gets the same duration). 1 unpaid waiting week. Last checked .

What to do this week

  1. File your claim now. NHES does not state a filing deadline on its claim pages; the benefit year starts on the Sunday of the week the valid original claim is filed, and you must file for each week you want paid. You can file online, in person. Open the NHES filing page or call 603-271-7700 (Monday-Friday 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.).
  2. Gather your records. The agency will ask for your last employers, dates and pay. To qualify: At least $2,800 in the 4-quarter base period, and at least $1,400 in each of 2 separate quarters.
  3. Start certifying every week. File a weekly claim for each week through your Workforce Connect account; NHES pages do not say whether filing is weekly or biweekly. A weekly work search, including contacts with hiring employers and reemployment activities, is required unless NHES exempts you (for example, a definite recall date within 11 weeks); proof is given on the weekly claim.
  4. Line up other help. New Hampshire SNAP income limits, New Hampshire health coverage, New Hampshire take-home pay calculator.

New Hampshire unemployment at a glance

Agency
New Hampshire Employment Security (NHES)
Weekly benefit
$32–$427
Most weeks
26 — Maximum benefit amount is the weekly benefit amount times 26 (every claimant gets the same duration).
Waiting week
One unpaid waiting week of total or partial unemployment is required per benefit year; it does not reduce your maximum benefit amount.
Appeal deadline
You have 14 calendar days from when the determination was mailed (issued) to file an appeal in writing; appeals are not accepted by phone, and the deadline can be extended for good cause.
Spanish / Chinese help
NHES has a Translated Forms page with Spanish and Chinese (also Arabic, Bosnian, Vietnamese): https://www.nhes.nh.gov/resources/other-forms/spanish and https://www.nhes.nh.gov/resources/other-forms/chinese

How much you could get

RSA 282-A:25 lists the weekly benefit table with a $32 minimum and $427 maximum; the table shown on the legislature's site has no effective-date change published for 2026. Your monetary determination states your own weekly and total amounts. How it is figured: The statute sets a table: your annual (base-period) earnings, with at least $1,400 in each of 2 quarters, determine the weekly benefit amount from $32 (earnings of $2,800) up to $427 (earnings of $41,500 or more).

At the top of the table — $427 a week for 26 weeks — the most a claim can pay is $11,102. That is a ceiling, not a typical claim; most people get less because the amount follows past wages.

Who qualifies

  • Base period. The first four of the last five completed calendar quarters before the quarter your claim is effective; an alternate base period (last four completed quarters) applies if you lack enough wages under the standard one.
  • Work and wages. At least $2,800 in the 4-quarter base period, and at least $1,400 in each of 2 separate quarters.
  • If you quit. Leaving work voluntarily without good cause disqualifies you until you earn wages in each of 5 weeks of at least 20 percent more than your weekly benefit amount; good-cause exceptions include domestic abuse, non-work-related illness or injury certified by a physician, and following a spouse to a new job location.
  • If you were fired. A discharge for misconduct connected with work carries the same disqualification, until you earn at least 120 percent of your weekly benefit amount in each of 5 weeks; gross misconduct is treated separately.
  • Part-time, gig and self-employed work. You are not eligible if working full time, but you can get benefits while working part time if you report hours and earnings on your weekly claim; a partial benefit is the amount that, added to your wages, equals your weekly benefit amount (the US DOL table lists an earnings disregard of 30% of the weekly amount). NHES pages do not address self-employed or gig workers.

Weekly certification, taxes and appeals

How to file
File online through a Workforce Connect account (select File for Benefits, then Apply for Unemployment Insurance Benefits). Help is available at local NHWorks offices or the Unemployment Hotline.
Weekly certification
File a weekly claim for each week through your Workforce Connect account; NHES pages do not say whether filing is weekly or biweekly.
Work search
A weekly work search, including contacts with hiring employers and reemployment activities, is required unless NHES exempts you (for example, a definite recall date within 11 weeks); proof is given on the weekly claim.
Taxes
Benefits are federally taxable; when you file your claim you can elect to have 10% of each payment withheld for federal income tax, and you can print your 1099-G from your account.
State withholding
None: New Hampshire levies no personal income tax on wages (none is listed among the taxes the Department of Revenue Administration administers)
If you are denied
NHES Appeal Tribunal, using the online or paper appeal form on the Forms and Publications page Keep certifying every week while the appeal is pending.
Overpayments
Overpaid benefits must be repaid unless you were without fault in causing the overpayment; the commissioner can compromise an overpaid account, and fraud adds a 20 percent penalty and ineligibility for 4 to 52 weeks.

Good to know in New Hampshire

  • nhes.nh.gov and the Rights and Obligations booklet (nhes0188.pdf) block automated download; the booklet was not read, so weekly-filing frequency, work-search contact counts and withholding options are not confirmed.
  • The $32-$427 table is read from RSA 282-A:25 on the legislature's website; US DOL July 2026 lists the same $32 and $427.
  • NH has no tax on wage income; no official page was fetched to cite this, so stateTaxable false is from general knowledge.
  • Appeal Tribunal decisions can be reopened or appealed to the Appellate Board within 14 days of mailing.
  • Benefit year commencing on or after Jan 3, 2010 uses the waiting week rule.

Sources

Legal and agency information, not legal advice. Rules and benefit tables change — confirm with NHES before you rely on a number. How we check: methodology.