JANUARY 28, 2019 – THE GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN IS TEMPORARILY OVER
President Trump succumbed to pressure on Friday and reopened the government for the next three weeks. The longest shutdown in US history has ended, but there is a February 15 deadline to reach a deal with Congress, else the government will close again.
Government offices are expected to open today, with furloughed workers returning to work. The deal included back pay for 800,000 federal workers; the Trump administration promises to pay them as soon as possible.
As the different departments reopen, we expect the backlog of economic data to be released over the upcoming weeks. The data release will show the impact the December rate increase is having on the economy and if the forecast for 2019 remains robust. The European Central Bank has recently become more concerned about emerging weakness in the Euro economy with the labor market cooling and inflation decreasing. We will soon see if this sentiment is spreading stateside.