With shutdown negotiations at a standstill, Trump administration reportedly doubles estimate for its cost

The Trump administration reportedly has a grim new estimate of the partial government shutdown's economic toll.

CNBC reports the Trump administration has doubled its estimate of how costly the ongoing shutdown will be. Previously, the administration thought there would be a reduction of 0.1 percentage point in economic growth every two weeks that the government is shut down. But now, the administration believes that much will be reduced every week.

According to this report, the original number didn't take into account the shutdown's effect on private contractors, nor did it factor in the cost of certain government spending not taking place. GDP may see a reduction of half a percentage point if the shutdown lasts until the end of January, CNBC adds, citing an unnamed official in the administration.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

It's certainly not hard to believe the shutdown will indeed last that long, with negotiations at a standstill and with President Trump dialing back his threat to declare a national emergency. In fact, Trump has warned that he's willing to keep the government shut down for months if he doesn't get the border wall funding he wants, which one economist warns could result in GDP actually declining in 2019's first quarter, per Business Insider. This economist also warned that even if the shutdown only lasts until the end of January, "the hit to growth will be material."