myjobcontacts › States › North Carolina

How many job searches do you need for unemployment in North Carolina?

What counts as a work search in North Carolina

• Sending a job application, resume or letter of interest to an employer
• Meeting an employer in person or interviewing, including at a job fair or by video
• Emailing an employer about a job
• Your first registration on NCWorks.gov (counts once)
• One reemployment activity a week from a local career center, like a job fair, resume workshop or interview prep

What doesn’t count

• Leaving a voicemail message for an employer
• More than one reemployment activity in the same week (only one can replace an employer contact)

More on this in what counts as a work search contact.

How to report your job contacts

Before you file your weekly certification, you enter each work search contact in MyNCUIBenefits: the date, the company or activity name, how you made contact, and the contact information (street address for in person, phone number for calls, email address for emails, or the employer's main website for online applications, not the job posting link). MyNCUIBenefits keeps a record you can download. Save a copy for your records.

When: File your weekly certification starting the Sunday after each week ends. You must file within 14 days after the week to be paid for it.

Where: MyNCUIBenefits.

When the search starts: The week you file your claim.

Keep a work search log

DES recommends saving a copy of your work search records for 2 years. DES may check your records or ask to see them for up to 5 years after you file. DES doesn’t have its own log form that we could find. Write down the date, employer, how you contacted them, the job, who you talked to and what happened.

The free myjobcontacts app keeps the same details. Prefer paper? Use the free printable work search log.

Who doesn’t have to search

• Your employer filed an attached claim for you while you are partly unemployed, and DES finds you available for work with that employer
• You are in a training program DES approved
• You are out of work directly because of a disaster covered by a federal disaster declaration, unless DES tells you to search

See work search exemptions for how these work in other states.

Reviews, audits and RESEA

DES may check your work search records, or ask you to show them, for up to 5 years after you file. DES verifies reemployment activities you claim. Fixes to entries go on the Work Search Activity Correction Form (NCUI 506E).

What to expect: unemployment work search audits.

If you miss your number

If you do not meet the rule and you record your contacts in MyNCUIBenefits, DES puts an issue on your claim that stops payment. If you were not recording online, the issue can lead to an overpayment you must pay back. False statements to DES are fraud and can bring fines or jail.

Sign up with the job bank

You must register for employment services. Register or reactivate your account on NCWorks.gov. Your first registration counts as one job contact, once. NCWorks.

Questions people in North Carolina ask

How many job searches are required for unemployment in North Carolina?

You must make at least 3 job contacts with employers each week. One of the 3 can be a reemployment activity from an NCWorks career center, like a job fair, resume workshop or interview prep.

What counts as a work search in North Carolina?

Sending a job application, resume or letter of interest to an employer; Meeting an employer in person or interviewing, including at a job fair or by video; Emailing an employer about a job; Your first registration on NCWorks.gov (counts once), and 1 more on the list above. Check your notice for anything your state added for you.

Do I have to keep a work search log in North Carolina?

Before you file your weekly certification, you enter each work search contact in MyNCUIBenefits: the date, the company or activity name, how you made contact, and the contact information (street address for in person, phone number for calls, email address for emails, or the employer's main website for online applications, not the job posting link). MyNCUIBenefits keeps a record you can download. Save a copy for your records. DES recommends saving a copy of your work search records for 2 years. DES may check your records or ask to see them for up to 5 years after you file.

What happens if I don’t do enough job searches in North Carolina?

If you do not meet the rule and you record your contacts in MyNCUIBenefits, DES puts an issue on your claim that stops payment. If you were not recording online, the issue can lead to an overpayment you must pay back. False statements to DES are fraud and can bring fines or jail.

Who doesn’t have to look for work in North Carolina?

Your employer filed an attached claim for you while you are partly unemployed, and DES finds you available for work with that employer. You are in a training program DES approved. You are out of work directly because of a disaster covered by a federal disaster declaration, unless DES tells you to search. Your notice will say if this applies to you.

Does North Carolina check or audit work search records?

DES may check your work search records, or ask you to show them, for up to 5 years after you file. DES verifies reemployment activities you claim. Fixes to entries go on the Work Search Activity Correction Form (NCUI 506E).

Checked against DES’s own pages and rules on November 6, 2026. We could not confirm how you report contacts, how RESEA works, the union rule, the job bank link on an official page, so check your notice for those.

Work search rules in every state

myjobcontacts is not a government website and this is not legal advice. Rules change, and your own claim notice or letter is what counts. If something here doesn’t match what your state told you, follow your state.