Shutdown bites US economy hard

WASHINGTON－The US economy is taking a larger-than-expected hit from the partial government shutdown, White House estimates showed on Tuesday, as contractors and even the Coast Guard go without pay and talks to end the impasse seemed stalled.

The shutdown, the longest in US history, dragged into its 25th day on Tuesday with neither President Donald Trump nor Democratic congressional leaders showing signs of bending on the topic that triggered it－funding for a wall that Trump promised to build along the border with Mexico.

Trump is insisting Congress shell out $5.7 billion for wall funding as about 800,000 federal workers go unpaid during the partial shutdown. Meanwhile, 380,000 federal employees have been going without pay. And it is hurting the economy.

The Trump government had initially estimated the shutdown would cost the economy 0.1 percentage point in growth every two weeks that employees were without pay.

But on Tuesday, there was an updated figure: 0.13 percentage point every week.

The economic effects have begun to reverberate across the country and longer lines have formed at some airports as more security screeners fail to show up for work.

Trump invited a bipartisan group of members of Congress for lunch on Tuesday to discuss the standoff but the White House said Democrats turned down the invitation. Nine House Republicans－none of whom are involved in party leadership－attended the private lunch.

House Democratic leaders said they did not tell members to boycott Trump's lunch but had pressed those invited to consider whether the talks would be merely a photo-op for Trump.

Separately, a bipartisan group of senators explored solutions. Senator Lisa Murkowski, a Republican participant, told reporters in a Capitol hallway that the group had "momentum," but gave no details.

Senator Joe Manchin, a Democratic participant, said: "Anything can be part of the negotiations."

Lawmakers were supposed to be in their districts and states next week after Monday's Martin Luther King Jr holiday, but the House and Senate planned to cancel the recess if the shutdown persists. One-quarter of federal operations are effected.

Reuters