NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- A new program will give you more time to find work, but there are new rules you'll have to follow.

The nation's unemployment currently stands at 9.5 percent. Tennessee's most recent stats for the month of May show the state's unemployment rate was at 10.7 percent -- higher than the national average.

All told, nearly 15 million people in the United States don't have a job. For many, more time and more money could be a saving grace.

"I had, you know, 401(k) and all the bells and whistles," said Jared Driver.

Driver's story is all too common: He found himself laid off, unemployed and trying to make ends meet on state benefits.

"We had maybe two or three days notice," said Driver. "My bills were bigger than all the checks."

New numbers suggest it's only getting worse. The nation hit a new high for unemployment in June.

But a new state program could give the unemployed more time to find a job.

The Tennessee Extended Benefits Program adds as many as 20 weeks of unemployment benefits for those who ran out after Feb. 28.

You can't apply until July 15th, and if you're still on unemployment past July 15, you automatically roll over to the new program.

"The bar has been raised," said Jeff Hentschel of the Tennessee Department of Labor. "The goal of the program is to get people back to work."

The Extended Benefits Program carries different rules. You must prove you're trying to find work by filling out and submitting a work sheet. If you get a job paying more than your weekly benefit check and turn the job down, the state can cancel your benefits.

"In addition to filling out the paperwork on these two documented work searches, there'll be random audits," said Hentschel.

For Driver, months of patience and persistence paid off: He's working in commercial cleaning. For him, the extra time is a good idea; he just wonders if it really gets to the root of the problem.

"If there were jobs created, then they wouldn't have to do these, where's all this money coming from?" he asked.

All of this is part of the federal stimulus package. It probably won't be as much as your normal unemployment check.

The program ends Dec. 26.