The 63,000 unemployed Michigan workers who have exhausted their federally-funded unemployment benefits from this summer should receive letters with instructions for obtaining the newly approved federal benefit extension within the next two to three weeks, the state Department of Labor reported November 25.

Stephen Geskey, director of Michigan's Unemployment Insurance Agency, expects the agency will mail letters to eligible unemployed workers by the week of December 12. The letters will explain how the unemployed workers can claim the added federal Emergency Unemployment Compensation benefits.

In the meantime, he urged jobless workers to refrain from calling the agency to inquire about their eligibility for the new benefits, as all potentially eligible unemployed workers will be notified by mail.

The new federal extension, which was signed into law by President George Bush November 21, provides that unemployed workers may collect up to another seven weeks of federally-funded benefits for a maximum total of 20 weeks (increased from a 13-week maximum) for all states. Up to an additional 13 weeks of federallyfunded benefits are now approved in high-unemployment states, such as Michigan. The unemployment extension was reported in The St. Ignace News November 27.

Mr. Geskey pointed out that the program and its extension are fully federally-funded, so employers will not be charged for benefits paid to their former employees.