How is unemployment calculated?

This is state by state. Does Calif. have a website devoted to this? Mass. does (www.detma.org); it's a helluva lot better than trying them on the phone.

Didn't know it was state by state. I'll check out: http://www.edd.ca.gov/

Doh, looks like I'll have to read a tome. Any general ideas? From what I hear it's about 30% of salary but what determines the duration?

Ack, duration is state-by-state but the federal government sometimes gives extensions. I had, um, about 30% of my wages and the initial term was 26 weeks. The feds extended it once, to 13 weeks.

You can extend it longer, usually, if you're in school. It's virtually impossible to get it back after it's expired, so make sure to enroll in school (any school, so long as it's related to your job search, in general) before it expires. Hopefully you won't be forced into that position. In any event, a friend of mine (she's in NY) extended her unemployment for maybe a year after it was supposed to expire, by continuing to take IT classes. I don't believe unemployment actually paid for the classes; I think she was just given extended benefits (tuition is a tax-deductible thing if you itemize, anyway).