Claims for unemployment in Wisconsin have gone up nearly 18 percent as the partial government shutdown approaches a month long.

Figures from the Department of Workforce Development (DWD) show that as of Jan. 12, 281 furloughed federal workers have filed initial claims for unemployment, according to local news outlet Channel 3000.

Before the shutdown started, DWD had fewer than 20 federal employees make claims for unemployment benefits from the state. It was not clear from the report during what length of time those claims were made.

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"It's too bad that they're unable to work due to no fault of their own, and they have to bear the brunt of that issue," Emily Savard, a program and policy analyst for DWD, told the news outlet.

New Gov. Tony Evers (D) has encouraged the state’s furloughed federal workers to apply for unemployment benefits while they wait to go back to their regular jobs.

There are roughly 29,000 federal employees in Wisconsin out of the more than 800,000 across the country impacted by the partial shutdown.