People collecting unemployment benefits would have to log at least five job-search activities every week under a rule the Labor Department proposed on Monday, Nov. 9. Today, nearly half the states ask for three, and some ask for only one or two.

The proposed rule went on public display at the Federal Register on Monday and is set to be published there on Nov. 10. Nothing changes for claimants yet.

What would change for claimants

Woman with gray locs reviewing a printed résumé with a career counselor at a job center desk
Image: Edit USA

States would have to require at least five qualifying work search activities for each week someone claims benefits. Claimants would report those activities every time they certify for a week, before the state releases the payment, and should be ready to show proof if asked.

Contacting employers would count. So would registering with, and staying in touch with, job placement agencies or unions. States could add other activities, and they could use a points system instead, as long as a claimant reaches five points a week. States could also excuse people who show what the department calls an equivalent attachment to the labor force, such as taking part in an approved program, or who face limited extenuating circumstances, such as filing a claim too late in the week to finish five activities.

Some states now give a warning when someone misses the work search requirement. That would end, and states would have to find the person ineligible for that week and, where it applies, set up an overpayment to be repaid.

Why the Labor Department says it is needed

Upward view of the Frances Perkins Department of Labor Building facade with its name in raised letters
The Labor Department's Frances Perkins Building in Washington, D.C.U.S. Department of Labor / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 2.0

Federal law already says a claimant must be "able to work, available to work, and actively seeking work" to collect benefits in any week, a requirement Congress added in 2012. The proposal says states have enforced it unevenly.

As of Jan. 1, 2025, a few states required five activities a week and a few required four, while nearly half required three, some required two and the rest required one. The department says the differences confuse claimants and lead to uneven enforcement. About 100 million weeks of benefits were claimed in 2025, by its count.

The public can comment for 60 days after the rule is published, through docket ETA-2026-0100 on Regulations.gov. A final rule would come after that, and states whose laws fall short would then need to change them.