How Clinton turned the shutdown into a boom

US economy boomed during 1995/1996 shutdown

A review of economic performance, however, tells a very different story. The spending gaps of the Clinton presidency occurred from Nov. 14 through Nov. 19, 1995 and from Dec. 16, 1995 to Jan. 6, 1996. Despite the greatly ballyhooed furloughs of government employees, unemployment stayed even at 5.6 percent during November 1995, the period of the first spending gap, which ended when a deal cut by President Bill Clinton and Republican legislators allowed government to stay funded at 75 percent. Unemployment actually dropped to 5.5 percent during the second spending gap, which was more complete than the first. Unemployment continued to plummet in the months following the shutdown, as a hamstrung Clinton allowed the rate of government spending increases to slow and headed toward the eventual budget surpluses that became the highlight of Clinton’s legacy. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, unemployment dropped half a percentage point within a year of the first shutdown and had dipped below five percent by the spring of 1997. Daily Caller

I stole this Kate Moss pic.