From Bloomberg:
Claims for U.S. jobless benefits jumped last week to the highest
level in six months, providing the first statistical warning that the
damage from the partial federal shutdown is starting to ripple through
the economy.
While half the increase came from California
as the state worked through a backlog following a switch in computer
systems, another 15,000 reflected the furlough of non-federal workers
from employers losing government business, a Labor Department spokesman
said as the data was released to the press. Applications (INJCJC)
for unemployment insurance benefits surged by 66,000 in the week ended
Oct. 5 to 374,000, the most since late March, figures from the Labor
Department showed today in Washington.
“The economic costs of a shutdown are going to increase the longer the
shutdown occurs,” said Ryan Sweet, a senior economist at Moody’s
Analytics Inc. in West Chester, Pennsylvania
and the second-best claims forecaster over the past two years,
according to data compiled by Bloomberg. “If this drags along for the
next couple of weeks, the economic toll will be even more significant.”
What I find truly amazing about this whole process is that people don't think there will be a negative cost to Washington's Stupidity. I still find that utterly baffling.
