Navigating the Government Shutdown Impacts

Kevin Hassett, the Director of the National Economic Council, indicated on Thursday that government employees who were furloughed during the recent shutdown are expected to receive their pay “early next week” or possibly even sooner.

In a morning gathering with reporters outside the West Building, Hassett mentioned that some furloughed employees had been invited back to work a few days ahead of schedule. This would facilitate their receiving paychecks “as soon as possible.”

“It was really heartwarming to see some of the furloughed workers today. There were plenty of hugs and smiles,” he remarked.

Hassett continued, “It’s likely we’ll see those payments going out early next week, and perhaps even before that. There’s been a serious push to ensure folks get their checks quickly.”

On November 5, the bipartisan policy center reported that the government had put at least 670,000 federal employees on furlough due to the previous shutdown. Paychecks for some federal workers started to be withheld on October 24 when Democrats refused to agree to reopen the government without extending certain Obamacare subsidies.

Ultimately, a compromise was reached, with Republicans assisting in reopening the government through a clean continuing resolution (CR), which also included funding for three of the twelve spending bills essential for the fiscal year.

Hassett emphasized the economic fallout from the shutdown, noting it had cost the U.S. approximately $15 billion each week—roughly 1% to 1.5% of GDP growth for the fourth quarter.

Moreover, he pointed out that an estimated 60,000 Americans, who aren’t government employees, have also faced job losses due to the shutdown. The unemployment rate for October 2025 might remain uncertain because the shutdown hindered the federal government’s capacity to gather crucial economic data.

“While we can calculate payroll statistics for October, we’ll only have about half of the employment data as the household budget survey remains unfinished,” he explained.

“For most other metrics, we might be able to adjust the numbers later, but we’ll never truly know what the unemployment rate was in October due to the absence of a household survey,” he concluded.