In this case, for once, blame is easily found: the republicans who refused to put that simple bill into place in January. The very fact that they showed so little respect for the potential default and the major hullabaloo set a fear cycle into place regarding the capacity of the Congress to govern.
What a pity that the greatest country in the world has been held captive by a handful of republicans and with the reign of bigotry and narrow thinking, a hole has really been dug deeply.
Unemployment? GNP? When you lay off government workers; when business and industry sits on their profits and refuses to hire, accustomed to higher productivity from fewer workers; pray tell what consumer is spending? Oh, that's right, when the rich are made richer they buy - you know, trickle down.