States Grapple With Work-Search Rules as Virus Keeps Surging

A summertime surge of Covid-19 cases isn’t stopping some states from requiring people who get jobless aid to prove they’re searching for work each week.

Louisiana and Mississippi last week became the latest states to resume enforcing work-search requirements, which many states had waived or modified since March in line with federal virus-response guidance. Arkansas, Missouri, and Nebraska previously resumed enforcing their requirements in June and July, while Colorado did so in late May.

Many other states continue to waive the requirements, including large states that were among the earliest to reopen businesses after virus-inspired shutdowns. Florida, Georgia, and Texas ...