Unemployment claims jumped in Hawaii, but so did visitor arrivals, the last time the federal government struggled through a partial shutdown six years ago through the holidays.

The 35-day shutdown lasted from Dec. 22, 2018, through Jan. 25, 2019, over a congressional fight to fund then-President Donald Trump’s request for $5 billion to build a longer border wall on the Southern border that never materialized.

The current budget battle in Congress also involves Trump, now president-elect, who initially wanted to suspend the debt ceiling for two years to keep the government operating as usual.

The House rejected the Trump-backed plan Thursday.

A new shutdown would represent the 22nd time since 1976 that the federal government closed or partially closed.

The last time, Hawaii tourism grew 2.9% compared with the same period the year before — likely because hundreds of thousands of dollars poured in to keep the Arizona Memorial open at a time when other national parks on the mainland were shuttered.

Hawaii’s unemployment claims at the time were averaging about 1,200 a week but suddenly jumped to 1,929 in the first week of January when idled workers could file claims — and to 1,782 in the second week before returning to normal levels, said state Economist Eugene Tian.

“There was an impact,” he said.

The current battle in Washington, D.C., over whether to keep the government running likely will go down to the wire today, when Congress is scheduled to adjourn.

If no deal can be reached, the federal government would begin sending nonessential employees home for the holidays starting at 12:01 a.m. Saturday.

Federal agencies and employees who would be affected include the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which still would have employees available to respond to disasters.

But federal funding, such as $1.6 billion earmarked for Maui’s rebuilding after the 2023 wildfires, would be delayed.

During government shutdowns, nonessential workers can file for unemployment, while essential workers have to stay on the job without salaries until the government reopens and provides them with back pay.

Essential workers include air traffic controllers, Transportation Security Administration officers and Customs and Border Protection agents, some of whom did not report to work during prior shutdowns, disrupting travel and causing long lines at airports across the country.

The last time there was a shutdown, national parks in Hawaii closed, or were partially closed, with employees such as park rangers no longer on the job.

But donations from sectors of the tourism industry — notably, $126,000 from the Hawai’i Tourism Authority — paid the salaries of federal park rangers and staff to keep the Arizona Memorial operating as usual, likely leading to the bump in tourism.

Other contributions came in from tour bus companies, hotels and airlines.

“We don’t have that kind of funding this time but are prepared to encourage private funding if need be to kokua,” HTA Chair Mufi Hannemann wrote Thursday in a text to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.

“No one wants to see a federal government shutdown at any time, but it’s especially concerning during the holiday season,” Hannemann wrote. “We certainly hope that an agreement can be reached. Bottom line is that travelers heading to Hawai‘i should not cancel or postpone their trips.”

During the last partial shutdown, tourists continued to visit portions of Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park that remained open, along with Halaekala National Park.

Without federal staffing, however, tourists were unable to access either park’s visitor centers.

In January 2019, WalletHub compared the effects of the partial government shutdown across all 50 states and the District of Columbia and reported that Hawaii was the fifth hardest-hit.

Hawaii trailed only the District of Columbia, New Mexico, Maryland and Alaska.

Minnesota, ranked 51st, was the least affected.

WalletHub looked at each state’s per-capita ratio of federal jobs, federal contracts and families on food stamps, among other measurements.