Nearly 1,200 Washington-based federal employees have applied for unemployment benefits since the federal shutdown began Oct. 1, according to the Washington Employment Security Department.

That equates to about 79 employees per day, according to a Thursday press release from the department.

“Unemployment claims for federal employees are a small percentage of all unemployment claims, but they are more complex and take longer to process,” the department said.

Clark County has nearly 4,000 federal workers , according to the state employment agency. That’s the fifth-greatest number in the state. Many of them work for the Bonneville Power Administration, which didn’t expect to be impacted by the shutdown.

Fort Vancouver National Historic Site employees and nonessential U.S. Geological Surv

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