Julia: Will I get travelling expenses? erectile dysfunction when tablets don&#39t work The report also shows the shutdown temporarily drove unemployment claims higher among the broader population. First-time claims spiked to 373,000 two weeks ago, and then fell back to 358,000 last week. The Department of Labor attributed part of the spike to the shutdown, but also indicated a large part of the increase was due to processing delays in California. The state recently updated its computer systems.