WASHINGTON — The 16-day government shutdown last month cost taxpayers $2 billion in lost productivity, the White House budget office said Thursday.
The 850,000 federal workers furloughed in the closure missed a total of 6.6 million days, the office said. Congress voted to pay them anyway, at a cost of $2 billion.
The office also estimated 120,000 private-sector jobs were lost, citing outside analyses of lost economic output of $2 billion to $6 billion.
The shutdown also halted $140 million in small-business loans; led to $500 million in lost visitor spending; and delayed $4 billion in tax refunds, it said