Shutdown’s Economic Damage Starts to Pile Up, Threatening an End to Growth – The New York Times

On Tuesday, a Federal Reserve Bank of New York survey showed weakening manufacturing activity in the United States, the latest in a line of similar warnings. Economists at JPMorgan Chase called the data an early indication of additional slowing in the sector, adding that the shutdown was probably hurting business sentiment.

Michael L. Corbat, the chief executive of Citigroup, told analysts on Monday that “right now, we see the biggest risk in the global economy as one of talking ourselves into a recession.”

With no end in sight, federal workers appear ready to seek alternate employment before things get worse.

The online jobs site Indeed analyzed job search behavior from mid-December through mid-January for workers at some affected federal agencies, including the I.R.S. and Transportation Security Administration. It found clicks on job listings rose at least 17 percent for each of those worker groups over that period, a sign that employees affected by the shutdown “are searching for jobs more right now than they usually do at this time of year,” said Martha Gimbel, Indeed’s director of economic research.

“With the shutdown occurring in a tight labor market, many workers have other options, and they seem to be trying to take advantage of them,” Ms. Gimbel said. “If the shutdown leads to a loss of talent for the federal government, it could be harder for it to compete for new hires in a labor market this tight.”

That might already be happening inside the White House. Mr. Hassett said on Tuesday that a prospective new hire had told the council that he might turn down the job he had been offered out of graduate school because the government is unable to bring him onto the payroll.