government shutdown

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are closing lower as hopes fade for a quick solution to the gridlock in Washington over how to avoid a U.S. government default.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House says a meeting between Obama and congressional leaders has been postponed to give Senate leaders more time to resolve a standoff over the nation's debt and the partial government shutdown.

NEW YORK (AP) — The nation's largest manager of money market mutual funds said Wednesday that it no longer holds any U.S. government debt that comes due around the time the nation could hit its borrowing limit.

A political stalemate in Washington D.C. has led to the closure of some federal functions, one of which is the collection and publication of economic data. Montana Bureau of Business and Economic Research Director Patrick Barkey said that even if the information is gathered later, much of it won't be as useful.

Montana Congressman Steve Daines stated on Tuesday, October 8, that he does not, in the short term, see a path forward in the effort to find any common ground in the political fight between Republicans in the House and President Obama.

With general rifle hunting season due to start on October 26, even officials at Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks are having problems getting information about federal public lands, due to the partial government shutdown.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate's top Democrat, Harry Reid, says House Speaker John Boehner (BAY'-nur) has a credibility problem.

NEW YORK (AP) — The stock market is lower as the U.S. government heads into a second week of a partial shutdown with no signs of a budget agreement in sight.

After months on the rise, gasoline prices are falling in most of the nation, and Montana appears to be leading the way.

The government shutdown that began Monday night and is now in its fourth full day means that lots of official data collection, analysis and reporting that happens each month has now stopped. This includes the monthly jobs reports issued by the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).