As the shutdown passes two weeks, furloughed Labor Department worker Imelda Avila-Thomas in San Antonio can’t get unemployment approved; despite uploading wage documents, the system can’t verify her pay. Her family has cut tutoring and visited a food bank. She’s one of about 26,000 federal workers filing claims since Sept. 28 as states juggle uneven benefits, verification delays, and murky work-search rules. In Texas, answers remain unclear. About 730,000 employees working without pay are generally ineligible, and a judge has blocked proposed layoffs while a lawsuit proceeds.

Prepared by Lauren Mitchell and reviewed by editorial team.