About 30,000 people in the state have been notified in the past week that they may qualify for an additional 20 weeks of jobless benefits.

The N.C. Employment Security Commission mailed the letters to out-of-work people whose unemployment benefits ran out in recent months when the maximum allowed was 79 weeks. But in November, Congress extended jobless benefits to 99 weeks, requiring the ESC to pay the additional benefits to those who qualify.

About 40,000 have automatically rolled over to the new extension. But the ESC wants to verify that the 30,000 or so who exhausted their benefits before Congress extended the benefits qualify for the extra payments.

About 78,000 jobless people in the state who have exhausted their unemployment benefits are about to receive a letter urging them to apply for extended benefits that were recently approved by Congress.

The N.C. Employment Commission is preparing to send out the letters this month as it begins administering the latest extension. Congress boosted maximum jobless benefits five weeks ago from 79 weeks to 99 weeks in the midst of the nation's most severe economic recession in decades.

Already, about 19,900 jobless people in North Carolina have automatically started receiving benefits under the latest extension, David Clegg, the commission's deputy chairman and chief operating officer, told the commission during a public meeting today in Raleigh.