More than 10,000 Marylanders have applied online for newly available federal unemployment benefits that extend by 14 weeks the time out-of-work residents can collect, the state said Friday. The Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation needed time to reconfigure its system to allow people to get the additional payments - which were approved by Congress last month - but said eligible residents can get payments for the weeks beginning Nov. 8 retroactively. It said the state is one of the first to allow people to apply for the money. The agency recommends applying online at mdunemployment.com.

- Jamie Smith Hopkins | The Baltimore Sun