US economy may face headwinds from possible government shutdown

WASHINGTON – The United States economy is facing headwinds from

a possible government shutdown,

student debt payments restarting, higher interest rates and an auto workers’ strike, White House economic adviser Jared Bernstein said on Wednesday.

But the economy will keep going in a “pretty good way” unless there is a policy mistake or exogenous shock, he said, speaking at an event at the Economic Policy Institute, a progressive think-tank.

“We have wages now beating prices, nominal wages growing faster than prices, and that dynamic in our economy creates a pretty persistent flywheel,” Mr Bernstein added.

“In the absence of a policy mistake or an exogenous shock, we think that sort of keeps things going in a pretty good way.”

Republican US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Wednesday rejected a stopgap funding Bill advancing in the Senate. The move brings Washington closer to its fourth partial shutdown of the US government in a decade, with just four days to go. REUTERS