A prolonged government shutdown could have a negative impact on the U.S. economy, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said Thursday.
“In the short term, government shutdowns don’t last very long. They typically have not left much a market on the economy, which isn’t to say, there’s plenty of personal hardships that people undergo,” Powell said during a discussion Thursday at the Economic Club of Washington, D.C.
“A longer shutdown is something we haven’t had,” he added. If we have an extended shutdown, I do think that would show up in the data pretty clear.”
The federal government has come to a near-standstill at midnight on Dec. 22 due to a battle between President Donald Trump and congressional Democrats over funding for a wall at the southern border. Neither side has been willing to budge on the core issue, and workers could be about to miss their first paycheck because of the standoff.
This is technically the ninth shutdown and potentially the longest.
Powell said previous gaps have not lead to damage “in the aggregate” though this one could be different.
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