NEW YORK, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- Oil prices continued to drop Tuesday as a partial U.S. government shutdown starting Monday midnight may hurt the economy and dampen fuel use.
The Congress failed to agree to a bill and was unable to meet the deadline at midnight Monday for funding the government. The White House Office of Management and Budget ordered the federal agencies to begin their plans for the government shutdown. This is the first U.S. government shutdown in 17 years. About 800,000 government workers will be forced to go home on furlough.
The U.S. government shutdown may shave about 0.12 percent off the quarterly annualized growth rate of real gross domestic product, according to Michael Feroli, the economists from JPMorgan Chase & Co.
U.S. is expected to account for 21 percent of global oil demand this year, according to the International Energy Agency.
Another immediate implication is that most of the government economic data flow will be halted, because government employees will not collect the raw information.
The most closely-watched September non-farm payrolls report by the Labor Department, which is originally scheduled for Friday, would also be postponed.
On the economic front, U.S. economic activity in the manufacturing sector expanded in September for the fourth straight month, according to the Institute for Supply Management. The index registered 56.2, up from August's reading of 55.7, beating market expectation.
Light, sweet crude for November delivery decreased 0.29 dollars to settle at 102.04 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for November delivery lost 0.43 dollars to close at 107.94 dollars a barrel.
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