Absences among U.S. airport screeners jump as shutdown drags on

Unscheduled absences among federal airport security screeners jumped on Sunday as a partial government shutdown that has frozen pay checks moved into its 23rd day.

The Transportation Security Administration, the agency responsible for airport security screening, said unscheduled absences among its employees rose to 7.7 percent from 5.6 percent on Saturday. The rate is more than double the 3.2 percent rate experienced a year ago. (Reporting by David Shephardson; Writing by Tim Ahmann; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)