• About Us
  • Who Are We
  • Work With Us
Thursday, July 17, 2025
No Result
View All Result
The Globe Post
39 °f
New York
44 ° Fri
46 ° Sat
40 ° Sun
41 ° Mon
No Result
View All Result
The Globe Post
No Result
View All Result
Home National

US Shutdown Subtracted $11 Billion from GDP: Congressional Report

Irreparable Harm Done to Affected Individual Businesses

Staff Writer by Staff Writer
01/28/19
in National
A sign is displayed on a government building that is closed because of the US government shutdown in Washington

The current US government shutdown is the longest ever. Photo: AFP

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

The five-week government shutdown subtracted $11 billion from the U.S. economy, about twice the amount President Donald Trump sought to fund a border wall, an independent congressional body said Monday.

However, all but $3 billion, or 0.02 percent of Gross Domestic Product, will eventually be recovered as the government resumes operations, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office said in a report.

The partial shutdown, the longest in US history, left some 800,000 federal workers either working without pay or furloughed although they are due to receive back pay this week.

But government contractors, including hourly workers, may not be compensated for lost income.


Why This Matters

The estimate suggested the damages from the political brawl in Washington were significant but stopped short of the far worse harm that could have occurred had it been allowed to continue.

“Underlying those effects on the overall economy are much more significant effects on individual businesses and workers,” the report said.

“Some of those private-sector entities will never recoup that lost income.”

Growth in subsequent quarters this year should see a small, temporary bounce, compensating for the losses in the final quarter of 2018 and the start of 2019, the report said.

Sen. Chuck Schumer: "I am supporting legislation that will make sure we never have another shutdown again." https://t.co/6pxFdZ8wvg pic.twitter.com/zeOiV7aukv

— The Hill (@thehill) January 28, 2019

With public services including aviation safety beginning to buckle under the strain of withheld wages and suspended operations, Trump agreed Friday to reopen the federal government temporarily but with no additional funding for the wall.

In a signature pledge from his 2016 campaign, Trump claimed the barrier would stem illegal immigration and drug trafficking, a claim Democrats have rejected.

The shutdown underscored the myriad but frequently unseen ways that the federal government greases the wheels of the economy: farm subsidies, mortgage approvals, tax refunds, permits for oil drilling, food safety inspections, all were temporarily interrupted.

And the CBO report said its estimate did not reflect indirect costs which were difficult to quantify but which were “probably becoming more significant” as the government freeze went on.

The halt to permits and government loan approval was “probably beginning to lead firms to postpone investment and hiring decisions.”

Airports in Miami and New York operated at reduced capacity causing some flights to be grounded due shortages of air traffic controllers and transportation safety agents, bringing home the direct threat to normal commerce as the shutdown dragged on.


What’s Next

Trump was widely seen as having lost the standoff with congressional Democrats as polling showed most voters blamed the president for the impasse while hard-right commentators accused him of capitulation.

Funding for the government is due to run out by mid-February and Trump told The Wall Street Journal on Sunday the odds were below 50 percent that lawmakers would reach a deal on border security he would find acceptable.

The president has threatened to use emergency powers to build the wall if he does not get his way with Congress. However, observers say this would likely face immediate legal challenges.

 

Share8Tweet
Staff Writer

Staff Writer

With Contributions by AFP

Related Posts

US services sector
Business

US Services Growth Slips to Lowest Level Since 2020: Survey

by Staff Writer
November 3, 2022
Bank of America
Business

Bank of America Fined $225 Mn for ‘Botching’ US Covid-19 Aid Payments

by Staff Writer
July 14, 2022
unemployment
Business

US Adds 390,000 Jobs in May, Unemployment Steady at 3.6 Pct: Govt

by Staff Writer
June 3, 2022
Jen Psaki
Business

White House Warns of ‘Extraordinarily Elevated’ March Inflation

by Staff Writer
April 11, 2022
US service sector, hiring
National

US Services Sector Accelerates Despite Supply Issue: Survey

by Staff Writer
April 5, 2022
consumer prices
Business

US Consumer Prices Hit New 40-Year High as Ukraine Shock Looms

by Staff Writer
March 11, 2022
Next Post
Uighurs pray at the Id Kah Mosque in Xinjiang, China.

EU Team Gets Rare Access to China's Restive Xinjiang

An old car with the Cuban flag painted on the trunk is seen near the Capitol of Havana in Cuba on January 7, 2015.

Trump Administration Considering Plan to Scare Off Investors in Cuba

Recommended

People from Nordic countries participate in the 2025 WorldPride DC parade and celebrate LGBTQ rights in Washington DC, USA, Saturday, June 7, 2025.

Sweden Cuts Red Tape for Changing Legal Gender

July 16, 2025
Ursula von der Leyen

EU Ministers Weigh Response to Latest Trump Tariff Threat

July 14, 2025
UN rapporteur Francesca Albanese

UN Says US Sanctions on Expert Sets ‘Dangerous Precedent,’ Must Be Reversed

July 11, 2025
Women in Afghanistan wearing a blue burqa

ICC Seeks Arrest of Taliban Leaders Over Persecution of Women

July 9, 2025
Kenya, Nairobi, 2024-07-16. Protesters in the streets

Nairobi Tense as Kenya Marks Democracy Uprising

July 7, 2025
President Donald Trump

Trump Wins ‘Phenomenal’ Victory as Congress Passes Flagship Bill

July 4, 2025

Opinion

Donald Trump

Fact vs. Fiction: The Trump Administration’s Dubious War on Reverse Discrimination

June 18, 2025
Tens of thousands of protestors shut down Fifth Avenue in Manhattan on Saturday, April 5, 2025, protesting the Trump administration's abuse of the separation of federal powers as well as the deep cuts to governmental services overseen by presidential advisor Elon Musk.

Civil Society Is Holding the Line. Will Washington Notice?

June 17, 2025
A Black Lives Matter mural in New York City.

Fuhgeddaboudit! America’s Erasure of History

April 2, 2025
Bust of Deputy Rubens Paiva in the Chamber of Deputies

Democratic Brazilians Are Still Here

March 18, 2025
A woman from Guatemala

Dispatch From Central America

January 28, 2025
US President Donald Trump

Dear Trump Supporters: Is This the America You Wanted?

January 28, 2025
Facebook Twitter

Newsletter

Do you like our reporting?
SUBSCRIBE

About Us

The Globe Post

The Globe Post is part of Globe Post Media, a U.S. digital news organization that is publishing the world's best targeted news sites.

submit oped

© 2018 The Globe Post

No Result
View All Result
  • National
  • World
  • Business
  • Interviews
  • Lifestyle
  • Democracy at Risk
    • Media Freedom
  • Opinion
    • Editorials
    • Columns
    • Book Reviews
    • Stage
  • Submit Op-ed

© 2018 The Globe Post