US shutdown hits business

US Commerce Secretary, Penny Pritzker warned that business is beginning to suffer from the federal shutdown.

Her comments at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) came as leaders gathering for the summit voiced worries about the US situation.

Philippine President Benigno Aquino said that what happens in the US “affects us all”.

The US government closed non-essential operations on Tuesday after Congress failed to agree to a new budget.

President Barack Obama cancelled a trip to Asia because of the shutdown.

“The shutdown is not good for business. It's not good for the economy,” Ms Pritzker said. One consequence of the shutdown had been her department's inability to collate vital economic data.

“We're a huge source of data for American business and that is a problem. It's affecting businesses and it's affecting their ability to get data,” she said.

Defence contractor Lockheed Martin has put 3,000 staff on leave, but the defence giant said this number would rise if the shutdown continued.

“I'm disappointed that we must take these actions and we continue to encourage our lawmakers to come together to pass a funding bill that will end this shutdown,” Lockheed's chief executive and president, Marillyn Hewson said in a statement.

“We hope that Congress and the Administration will resolve this situation as soon as possible,” she said.

The announcement followed United Technologies’ decision to temporarily lay off 2,000 employees. The company, which makes Blackhawk helicopters, said some manufacturing had been halted because there were no government inspectors working to sign off products. The widening impact of the shutdown sparked concern at Apec meeting in Bali on Sunday. Aquino said, “The US economy is the number one economy in the world, what happens there affects all of us. The world economy obviously is not in a position to withstand too much shock at this time when we are just recovering as a global economy.”

BBC