• Fair highlights resources for unpaid federal workers,

With the partial federal government shutdown nearing the onemonth mark, the state has seen an 850 percent spike in the number of unemployment claims from federal employees, including about 300 from the Pittsburgh area, William Trusky, deputy secretary of the state Department of Labor and Industry for unemployment compensation, said Friday.

Mr. Trusky cited the rise in claims at a resource fair coordinated by the department with local nonprofits and labor unions.

The fair at the Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers Union Hall on the South Side’s 19th Street, which ran for four hours Friday, showcased the programs available to affected workers and federal benefits recipients.

Only workers who are furloughed are able to receive unemployment insurance. Those working without pay are ineligible, Mr. Trusky said.

“There’s a lot of stress on those people and their families,” said Jim Blatnick, the AFL-CIO community services liaison at the Allegheny County Labor Council and the union’s liaison with the United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania. He encouraged anyone in need to call the United Way at 2-1-1, which can direct them to available resources.

Lisa Scales, CEO of the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, said her organization is setting up additional distribution stations to meet increased need, including at federal workplaces such as Pittsburgh International Airport.

“Immediate effects are being felt by the almost 20,000 federal employees in the region who are either furloughed or having to work without pay,” Ms. Scales said.

The increased demand is adding about $100,000 per week to the food bank’s budget, said Teresa Weatherford-Brown, the food bank’s head of fundraising and volunteers. The food bank has set up a fundraiser at gofundme.com to gather donations.

“I don’t think people understand the need,” said Ms. WeatherfordBrown, adding that there may be “a lack of understanding about the precarious situation that these federal employees are in.”

Ms. Scales added that the food bank has received some private donations and is getting assistance from Giant Eagle and other local food companies.

The food bank also runs a federal program, the “senior box program,” which provides surplus nonperishable food to senior citizens. It is currently funded through March. Additional demand for the program’s resources is coming from federal benefits recipients anxious about their benefits and trying to stretch them out, Ms. Weatherford-Brown said.

The federal Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, better known as food stamps, is also funded for now, but the U.S. Department of Agriculture required state agencies to distribute February’s benefits early. The state Department of Human Services allocated them this week.

Those early payments “will need to last,” said Patricia Steinkopf, who directs the Allegheny County Assistance Office, because “payments beyond February will be determined based on availability of funds.”

The state’s career search service, PA Career Link, and a local nonprofit that advises people on financial management, Advantage Credit Counseling Services, were also at the fair.