.

Oh I see now there’s a list. The page you linked also mentions that work search requirements see belong reinstated after being suspended during the height of the pandemic. Perhaps the current numbers reflect the reality of available living-wage jobs in the area?

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So much this. Some folks seem to have the attitude that an unemployed person who previously worked in skilled labor or a professional position should jump on the first minimum wage job available - going from being unemployed to underemployed and also too busy to spend a lot of time on a search for work compatible with their experience and skills.

I was laid off from a corporate job in late 2001, after the tech bubble burst. I had an infant daughter and suddenly no money for day care, so job searching/interviewing was difficult. Something that people don’t consider is that lower-wage jobs often won’t consider you if you have a college degree and/or several years of professional experience. They know you’re not going to stay, so it’s not worth putting in the time to train you. I spent a lot of time applying for grocery store jobs because they paid better than food service and tended to have good benefits, and I couldn’t even get a call back.

Another hurdle faced by unemployed people with small kids is that those lower wage jobs people think you should jump on don’t pay enough to offset the cost of day care. At that time, minimum wage jobs paid 5.15 an hour. I would have been paying more than I made at work in day care fees each week.

ETA: sorry to harp on, but another consideration is the cost of employment for the working poor. If you get laid off from a job within walking distance of your home, and available jobs would require you to have reliable transportation and money for gas, that’s a significant barrier to employment. If your previous job provided a uniform, and the new one on offer requires you to meet a dress code, that’s another potential barrier. A universal basic income for low-SES families can do a lot to help people gain and retain employment - look up the recent UBI experiment in Stockton CA to see the results.

The common Republican talking points that unemployed people are lazy and the extra $600 payment during covid will disincentive work are false.

www.bostonglobe.com/2020/07/29/opinion/no-unemployment-benefits-do-not-discourage-work/

The reason unemployment numbers are high is simple, there are not enough jobs to go around.  And many of the jobs lost during the pandemic are not coming back.