$200 Million A Day: How the Shutdown Will Impact the Region’s Economy

• October 1, 2013

by Shilpi Paul

Photo courtesy of Alicia Aleman

As the government shutdown commences, economists are starting to tally up the economic toll that the forced break will take on metro areas around the country.

In news that will come as no surprise, Trulia Trends found that the DC area will be the hardest hit region. 18.5 percent of local wages in the area go to federal workers, Trulia found, the highest percentage in the country. The close-in Maryland suburbs — Bethesda, Rockville, and Frederick — came in second, with 12.6 percent of wages going to federal workers. These statistics do not include the government contract workers who are receiving stop-work orders throughout the day.

“[Federal wages] are not the only way that local economies depend on the federal government, but the loss or postponement of federal workers’ pay is one of the most immediate and tangible effects of the shutdown,” Trulia economist Jed Kolko told UrbanTurf.

Earlier this week, economist Stephen Fuller estimated that the region could lose as much as $200 million a day during a shutdown, reported the Washington Post. Fuller generated his number by estimating that 60 percent of federal workers would be off for the duration of the shutdown, as well as 20 percent of government contractors.

This article originally published at http://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/200_million_a_day_how_the_shutdown_will_impact_the_regions_economy/7633