Jobless benefits for 20 more weeks

SALT LAKE CITY — Utahns who exhaust their regular state unemployment insurance benefits on or before March 27 now have up to 20 additional weeks of emergency unemployment compensation, according to the Utah Department of Workforce Services.

Congress passed and President Obama signed a short-term 30-day extension of the EUC this week. The legislation also included a similar extension to the Federal Additional Compensation program that pays unemployed workers an additional $25 per week in benefits.

Prior to the emergency extension, the Utah department began sending out notices to about 1,300 unemployed Utah workers that they had exhausted their regular state unemployment benefits and were not entitled to any further benefits, including EUC. It now will notify the impacted unemployed workers that they may be eligible for EUC and they can file their claim on the DWS Web site or by calling the claims center.

The 30-day extension did not provide any additional benefits but rather extended the termination of the federally funded emergency programs.