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RALEIGH – The thousands of people added to North Carolina's unemployment line could end up costing the state more money than they thought.

Right now, states are getting an interest-free loan from the federal government to pay unemployment benefits, but that could soon change.

About one in 10 people in the state are without a job. That's meant high unemployment benefit payouts for the state – $2.5 billion in 2009.

By the end of this year, it's expected the state will owe the feds up to $3.5 billion. That money is interest-free until the end of the year, when a 4.36 percent interest rate would kick in. That interest would add up to $153 million extra the state has to pay back.

“The interest will be paid by the general fund, and it's an additional consideration for the state,” said State Treasurer Janet Cowell.

Cowell warned lawmakers Tuesday they should start planning to have to cover that interest payment. That came as a surprise to some legislators.

“We've never paid interest in North Carolina,” Senate President Pro-tem Marc Basnight said.

With the purse strings already expected to be coming up short this year, one of the state's head budget writers said he hopes rumors he's hearing out of the nation's capital are true.

“There are rumors coming out of Washington that we would probably be in a position to be forgiven either some part of the debt, or that the extension of the no interest situation would exist,” Rep. Mickey Michaux, D-Durham County, said.

Cowell told lawmakers not to hold their breath. She says as of now, there has been no talk of forgiving any of the billions of dollars of debt.

“They also warned us that if there was an extension, that it would be a short-term extension, not a long-term extension,” Cowell told legislators.

Only the interest payments will have to come out of the state's weak general fund. The remainder of the money owed to the federal government would be paid out of corporate taxes.