U.S. Government Shutdown

    The U.S. government is now on shutdown because the Democrats and Republicans could not agree on a budget. According to the article "Federal Shutdowns Usually Don't Do Much Economic Damage. There Are Reasons to Worry About This One," this shutdown looks riskier than all the other one's and President Donald Trump is threatening to permanently eliminate thousands of government jobs. The U.S. government has been shut down 21 times in the past half century, and the last shutdown stretched about five weeks. During a shut down, Federal workers do not get paid and the federal government delays some spending. When the shut downs are over, federal workers go back to their jobs and collect back pay. Government benefit payments and healthcare programs (Social Security and Medicare) won’t be disrupted by the shutdown, which is a crucial income support for some families. However, there is little evidence that they have a significant impact on the economy since it is not for a long period of time. 

    There is an estimate that the shutdown and loss of income for federal workers could decrease the nation's annual growth rate 0.1 to 0.2% in the fourth quarter for each week the government is closed. The economy created 911,000 fewer jobs than originally reported in the year, which meant that employers added an average of fewer than 71,000 new jobs a month over that period. Since March, job creation has been slowing down even more, which shows an average of 53,000 jobs a month. The GDP growth is at a 3.8% annual pace from April through June, but drops to 0.6% in the first three months of the year. 

Press, Associated. “Federal Shutdowns Usually Don’t Do Much Economic Damage. There Are Reasons to Worry  about This One.” US News & World Report, U.S. News & World Report, 2025,   www.usnews.com/news/business/articles/2025-10-02/federal-shutdowns-usually-dont-do-much-economic-damage-there-are-reasons-to-worry-about-this-one.