Keystone Today

Those who are out of work in Pennsylvania now have to show that they are searching for jobs again as part of the requirement to receive unemployment benefits; the requirement began July 18.

According to CBS Pittsburgh, officials in Pennsylvania have decided to reinstate the job-search requirement for those collecting, or seeking to collect, unemployment benefits. Currently, the number of Pennsylvanians collecting unemployment is around 750,000, roughly 5.8% of the population.

Unemployment rates have remained high in Pennsylvania, even increasing in recent weeks. Many other states have had long stretches of improvement, unlike Pennsylvania, according to The Times. 

The unemployment rate in May for the state of Pennsylvania was 6.9%, according to Pennsylvania Pressroom. The commonwealth's unemployment rate was 6.6 percentage points below its May 2020 level. 

Pennsylvania's unemployment rate is above the national average, which sits at 5.9%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. 

The leisure and hospitality sector had the largest 12-month gain, adding back 187,200 jobs. While the state tries to combat unemployment and continue the economic recovery, Republicans in the Pennsylvania Legislature are considering passing a bill that would end the extra federal unemployment insurance benefits early, much like many other states have already done, according to The Morning Call.

As described on the Pennsylvania Office of Unemployment Compensation, "work search" requires those seeking unemployment beneifts to apply for two jobs and complete one work-search activity every week, such as attending a job fair. The office says that these work-search requirements also apply to those people who are self-employed or business owners who are seeking unemployment benefits. 

Those who may be exempt from the job-search requirement include individuals who receive work through a union hiring hall, those on a shared work plan through their employer, those in Trade Act training, those attending a RESEA (Reemployment Services and Eligibility Assessment) session for the week and those who have written recall dates from their employer. 

Nearly 2 million Americans have turned down job offers because they are collecting enough unemployment to live on, says an Axios report on a recent poll.