Government Shutdown Could End 99-Month Job Growth Streak

The partial government shutdown could cause the longest stretch of continuous job growth recorded in the U.S. to come to an end this month.

U.S. employers, including private businesses and government agencies, have added jobs every month since October 2010, a streak of 99 months. That is the longest run on record dating back to 1939 and would come to an end, if hundreds of thousands of government workers furloughed by the partial shutdown are dropped from federal payrolls.

“The January employment number could be pretty ugly,” said Moody’s Analytics economist Ryan Sweet. He said it is too soon to know if federal workers laid off this week ultimately won’t be counted as employed in January jobs report, to be released Feb. 1.