Keith Sonderling, who was acting Labor Secretary at the time, will testify at a Senate hearing on May 19, 2026.
Photo by Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images
The Labor Department on Monday proposed a rule that would raise the standards for applying for unemployment insurance by requiring people to prove they have searched for work five times a week to be eligible to apply.
In its announcement, the Trump administration described the proposal as a way to improve the “integrity and accountability” of the joint federal-state unemployment insurance system. Consumer advocates said the proposed job search standard of five qualifying activities per week exceeds most states’ standards and would make it more difficult for many applicants to qualify for assistance.
Currently, there are no uniform requirements across the United States for unemployment insurance claimants regarding job search requirements.
Federal law requires all states to have job search requirements, but each state has broad discretion to set its own qualifications. There is also plenty of freedom to set other parameters, such as the weekly amount claimants can receive and the number of weeks they can receive those funds.
For example, in some states, a qualified job search includes applying for a job, creating a profile on a job search website, or attending a networking event.
Currently, only four states require people to search for work at least five times a week, Michelle Evermore, senior director of economic security and workforce transition at the National Employment Law Project, said in an email.
The remaining states will require fewer activities.
The Department of Labor’s proposal would require individuals who claim unemployment insurance to complete and report at least five qualifying job search attempts each week before payments are made, according to a press release announcing the rule.
“This proposed rule will help job seekers find jobs faster, make efficient use of taxpayer resources, and improve the overall health of the unemployment system,” Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling said in a statement.
The proposal has a 60-day public comment period.
“Unemployment insurance is meant to provide temporary support until you find another job, not a permanent, taxpayer-funded paycheck,” Sonderling wrote in X on Monday.
In nearly all states, unemployed individuals are generally not eligible to receive unemployment benefits for more than six months.
Evermore said the Trump administration’s proposal would amount to dramatic changes to the unemployment safety net, making it more difficult for jobless claimants to maintain benefits and increasing costs for states.
“Not only would the proposed changes be devastating for claimants who are unemployed and may not have five search options each week, but they would likely cost the state hundreds of thousands of dollars,” Evermore said in an email. “Nearly all states would have to change their claimant intake forms, and the technology would have to change accordingly, which would cost a lot of money. Many states would have to rewrite their laws to meet this rule.”
“It would be highly unusual for the Department of Labor to unilaterally change how states operate their (unemployment insurance) systems without clear direction from Congress,” he said.
Department of Labor regulations “strongly encourage” states to allow “a variety of job search activities” to meet this requirement, Evermore wrote.
The rule comes in what labor economists call a “low-hire, low-fire” job market, where job seekers have difficulty finding new jobs amid low employment rates nationwide and historically low layoff rates. Overall, economists say turnover in the job market is decreasing, reducing opportunities for job seekers.
The proportion of long-term unemployed workers, or those who have been out of work for more than six months, is increasing. As of October, about 27.6% of all unemployed people were considered long-term unemployed, up from 20.5% three years ago.
