The problem with that scenario, and the one you mistake in ``Reason 1'' is that unemployemnt insurance can often pay more than some random temporary job. That being said, if you can find a temp job that pays almost as much, your unemployment insurance can become reactivated right after it's over, as long as it was a temp thing and you didn't get fired, without losing any benefits. That is, you don't completely forego your dole for that period, it just gets tacked on to the end and you can get it later, if you're unemployed that long. At least that's the way it works in NC, and I imagine it's similar elsewhere.