The two-week-old federal government shutdown is costing the U.S. economy about $15 billion a day in lost output, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Wednesday, putting an estimate on its economic toll and urging Democrats to "be heroes" and side with Republicans to end it.

A sharp slowdown in hiring poses a growing risk to the U.S. economy, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Tuesday, a sign that the Fed will likely cut its key interest rate twice more this year. Powell said in a speech in Philadelphia that despite the federal government shutdown cutting off official economic data,