Portland – Unemployment claims by federal workers in Oregon increased fourfold after the government shutdown began last month, according to data from the Oregon Employment Department.
Between Dec. 21 — the last day before the shutdown started — and Jan. 10, some 1,900 Oregon workers filed unemployment claims. That compares with 450 in the same period a year earlier.
The shutdown affects about 9,600 federal workers in Oregon, according to the employment department. But only some of those are eligible for unemployment benefits.
Some federal employees whose work is deemed essential must keep working during the shutdown, even though they’re not getting paid. Those workers aren’t eligible for jobless benefits because the legal definition of unemployment excludes people working full time, whether or not they are being paid.
The state’s jobless rate was 4.1 percent last month, up slightly from 3.9 percent at December but still near an all-time low.
