The jobs number could be a lot weaker in January if the shutdown continues through next week, when the department conducts its payroll survey; most of the furloughed workers would be counted as unemployed.
Additionally, jobless claims of private contractors have probably already increased by as much as 15,000, according to Michael Feroli, chief US economist at JPMorgan.
That all means monthly jobs could decline in January for the first time since 2010.
Beth Ann Bovino, S&P Global Ratings chief US economist, estimated that real GDP growth would be lowered by a tenth of a per cent for every two weeks that the partial shutdown persists, which she said came out to about US$1.2 billion per week.