I don't know where you got the idea that you can righteously assume you don't have to take the first job that is offered to you while you are on unemployment insurance. That's sort of like thinking you can't get pregnant the first time you have sex. You don't get a freebie.
If you don't want the job, don't apply for it. If you apply for it, and they call you up and actually OFFER the job to you, then you have to report it. If you don't, they probably will report it to the unemployment system that you have refused work. There are in most states and in most cases a system where anyone who turns down a job is reported, and their social security number is checked to see whether they are receiving unemployment insurance or some form of public assistance anyhow. And if you have reported that you refused the job, and the reason you refused the job, you're that much further ahead. Remember, you don't have to refuse to go to the job interview, you are considered to have refused a job only if they have offered the job to you.
And when you are being interviewed for the job, and you mention that being a long commute from where you live may be a factor, sometimes they decide not to offer you the job. But if they do, and you decide to refuse it, thinking long and hard about it before you decide to do this, realizing that it might affect your benefits, then you report that yes, you were offered a job, but you refused it.
Then your benefits will stop for a few weeks, you will be called and the reason you decided to refuse the job will be discussed. And the most important factor that they will look at is "Is this an equivalent job?" In other words, if you were driving 50 miles each way to the job you're laid off from, and you turn down another job saying it's too far to commute, you're screwed as far as unemployment benefits are concerned. There is the concept of we don't ask people to worsen themselves. we don't ask you to accept, especially at the beginning of your claim, when you have just begun your worksearch, we don't ask you to take the first low wage job outside your area that you can lay hold of.
You are given some time to look for jobs that are equivalent to the job you lost in the first place. They'll issue a decision about whether they considered this an equivalent job any time you report you were offered a job. If you don't report it, and they find out about it later, then they'll take away all benefits you received after the job was offered, and probably cut you off anyhow. Do it honestly and according to the program. Report all jobs you are offered. DO NOT apply for jobs you are sure you don't want and wouldn't accept if you were offered them, even if you are required to make a worksearch and report where you've been.
As time goes on, the definition of "equivalent" declines somewhat. In fact, by the time you run out of regular benefits and are on extensions, you pretty much are expected to take anything you can find.
But if you have some good prospects of finding a job that is closer to your home, and they actuallycall you up and offer you this job that is far away, and you don't think it's going to be worth it to drive this much further for the job, you're sure you can find something closer, you may get away with refusing it, especially in the beginning of your claim. If you were making $10 an hour, you can't now turn down a job that pays $11 an hour because you don't think it pays enough. In fact, jobs that pay $9 an hour may be considered appropriate if you've been out of work for any period of time.
Unemploment is finite, it ends. the right job, within the right commuting distance may not be there just at the moment you run out of benefits. You have to consider all this every time you are offered a job.
