The US government shutdown is inflicting “far worse” economic damage than had been estimated and could cut fourth quarter GDP growth in half, White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett has warned.
The 38-day shutdown, the longest in US history, is hitting travel, hotel and construction sectors particularly hard, he told Fox Business in an interview on Friday.
”The impact on the economy is far worse than we expected because it’s gone on for so long,” he said.
The repercussions of the shutdown could slice 1% to 1.5% from US GDP growth in the October-December period, Hassett said, citing recent estimates from Goldman Sachs.
“We were going to have at least 3% growth in the fourth quarter… now we’re expecting something like half that,” he added.