Debt limit default could cost 8.3 million US jobs: White House Report

A protracted default on U.S. payment obligations could result in the loss of 8.3 million jobs and a 6.1 per cent reduction in economic output, according to an analysis by the White House Council of Economic Advisers released on Wednesday.

Such an unprecedented default "would likely lead to severe damage to the economy, with job growth swinging from its current pace of robust gains to losses numbering in the millions," the council said in the report.

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Even a more modest, "short" default scenario that is quickly resolved could lead to a loss of 500,000 jobs and a 0.6 per cent reduction in real GDP, the council said.