SOUTHERN UTAH – Effective Feb. 20, those who receive unemployment benefits will be required to apply for four jobs each week, as opposed to two.

The Department of Workforce Services sent an electronic letter to those on unemployment Feb. 7 informing them of the changes.

Public Information Officer Curt Stewart said those four contacts must be employers not previously contacted.

“The upside is that there’s some glimmer of hope,” Stewart said about the economy. “It shouldn’t be hard for people filing unemployment to make an effort. Many people that are in the job industry, the temp industry or headhunters, say it’s a full time job when you’re looking for work.”

The letter stated those four employers should be in the insured’s current or previous occupations.

Regional Economist Lecia Langston said she believes it is possible for those on unemployment insurance to apply for four jobs each week.

“Job contacts can happen regardless of whether there’s any jobs [available] or not,” Langston said. “They still have to do the contacts. However, every month the economy gets just a little bit better. It’s expected when we get final data for December that we’ll see some job growth. That hasn’t happened in two years.”

“It’s not wonderful,” Langston said of the economy. “It’s not a healthy, booming economy, but it’s going to continue to get better as time goes on.”