Readable version: Unemployment work search requirements by state, explained state by state. All site datasets: open data · data roundups.
What this dataset covers
How many job search activities a person on unemployment must make each week, what counts as an activity, how they are reported, what records to keep, job bank registration and the main exemptions.
Most often unconfirmed in this release: log_form (35), report_url (24), keep_records (23), record_fields (19), job_bank (15). 12 jurisdictions have their own page on the site (AR, AZ, CO, DE, KY, MD, MI, MT, NC, TX, VT, WI); their rows also carry the explanatory text and all sources shown there.
Field dictionary
| Field | Meaning | Type | In this release |
|---|---|---|---|
jurisdiction_code | Two-letter postal code of the state or DC. | string | 51 of 51 filled |
jurisdiction | State name (or District of Columbia). | string | 51 of 51 filled |
agency | State unemployment agency. | string | 51 of 51 filled |
weekly_min | Minimum work search activities per week. | integer | 41 of 51 filled; 1 to 5 |
weekly_max | Highest weekly requirement, when it varies. | integer | 41 of 51 filled; 1 to 5 |
weekly_text | The weekly requirement as the state states it. | string (free text) | 50 of 51 filled |
activities | Activities that count. Present only for jurisdictions that have their own page on the site. | array of strings | 12 of 51 filled |
not_counted | Activities that do not count. Present only for jurisdictions that have their own page on the site. | array of strings | 4 of 51 filled |
activities_url | Official list of activities. Present only for jurisdictions that have their own page on the site. | string (URL) | 4 of 51 filled |
report_how | How activities are reported. | string (free text) | 42 of 51 filled |
report_url | Where to report. | string (URL) | 27 of 51 filled |
log_form.name | Official work search log form. Present only for jurisdictions that have their own page on the site. | string | 4 of 51 filled |
log_form.url | Link to that form. | string (URL) | 15 of 51 filled |
record_fields | Details to record for each contact. | array of strings | 32 of 51 filled |
keep_records | How long to keep records. | string (free text) | 28 of 51 filled |
job_bank.name | State job bank. | string | 36 of 51 filled |
job_bank.url | Its link. | string (URL) | 29 of 51 filled |
job_bank.required | Whether registration with the job bank is required. | boolean | 34 of 51 filled: true (32), false (2) |
job_bank.note | Detail on job bank registration. Present only for jurisdictions that have their own page on the site. | string (free text) | 8 of 51 filled |
exemptions | Main exemptions from the requirement. Present only for jurisdictions that have their own page on the site. | array of strings | 11 of 51 filled |
week | Which days make up a benefit week. | string | 3 of 51 filled |
notes | Other points from the official source. Present only for jurisdictions that have their own page on the site. | string (free text) | 5 of 51 filled |
unconfirmed | Fields the official sources read did not confirm for this row. Those values are null. | array of strings | 48 of 51 rows list at least one |
source_urls | Links to the official sources (all of them for jurisdictions with their own page; the main linked source for the others). | array of strings | 51 of 51 filled |
checked | When the row's sources were opened (YYYY-MM or YYYY-MM-DD). A row with no official source carries the date of the check that found none. | date (YYYY-MM-DD) | 51 of 51 filled |
page_url | The page on mcc-solutionsnj.com that explains this row. | string (URL) | 51 of 51 filled |
Preview: the first 10 rows
jurisdiction | weekly_min | weekly_max | weekly_text | week | checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | null | null | The claimant handbook says you must actively look for work unless you've been notified th… | null | 2026-11 |
| Alaska | 1 | 2 | Two work search activities a week if you live in Alaska within 55 road miles of a job cen… | null | 2026-11 |
| Arizona | 4 | 4 | The DES work search instructions say to make at least 4 work search contacts a week, on a… | null | 2026-11 |
| Arkansas | 2 | 5 | Arkansas rule 11 CAR 1-104: in metropolitan areas at least 3 and no more than 5 job conta… | null | 2026-11 |
| California | null | null | EDD says most people must search for suitable work and show they're trying to find a job … | null | 2026-11 |
| Colorado | 3 | 5 | CDLE recommends at least 3 to 5 work-search activities a week; another section of the sam… | null | 2026-11 |
| Connecticut | 3 | 3 | At least 3 work search activities every week: at least 1 direct employer contact plus 2 o… | null | 2026-11 |
| Delaware | 1 | 1 | One unique work search activity a week, with at least one new work search contact each we… | null | 2026-11 |
| District of Columbia | 2 | 2 | At least 2 verifiable work search contacts each week. | null | 2026-11 |
| Florida | 3 | 5 | At least 5 work searches a week if your county has more than 75,000 people, or at least 3… | null | 2026-11 |
6 of 26 columns shown, long text cut at 90 characters; the downloads have every column in full.
Download formats
The CSV has one row per jurisdiction and one column per field above, UTF-8, comma-separated. Nested fields use dotted names (log_form.name); lists are joined with | , and lists of objects become key: value; key: value items. The JSON keeps types (numbers, true/false, null, arrays) and includes this dictionary, the license and the checked date.
License
License: free to copy, share and adapt, including commercially, under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license.
Attribution required: credit "MCC Solutions" and link to this dataset page (https://mcc-solutionsnj.com/data/work-search). The cite box below has text ready to paste.
Accuracy
Accuracy: every fact comes from an official government page as it read when checked (November 2026 for this release). Anything those pages did not confirm is null and named in the row's unconfirmed list; a null that is not on the list means the point does not apply or the source states none. This is general information, not legal or tax advice. We are not lawyers, and MCC Solutions is not a law firm.
Cite this data
Free to reuse under CC BY 4.0: credit MCC Solutions and link to https://mcc-solutionsnj.com/data/work-search.
Changelog
- November 2026: sources checked for all 51 jurisdictions; this release has 26 fields, 477 confirmed values and 154 unconfirmed items.
- Downloads are generated from the data files on each request, so a corrected file shows up in the CSV and JSON straight away; a new entry is added here when the sources are checked again.