Does the U.S. government shutdown endanger economic growth? It has led to missed paychecks, a source of enormous pain and anxiety for furloughed employees and their families. Yet these employees represent approximately 0.5% of all American workers (although a much higher share in Washington and its suburbs). The effect of the furloughs on gross domestic product is likely small.
Nonetheless, some economic forecasters have reduced their estimates of first-quarter annualized economic growth by 0.2 to 0.4 percentage point due to the partial government shutdown. This would amount to a loss of GDP in the first quarter of 2019 of between $10 billion and $20 billion—substantially more than President Trump demands for the border wall.
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