CHICOPEE, Mass. (WWLP) – A looming default deadline for the U.S. Government has some economists worried about hefty economic downfall. 22News is working for you with what impacts to expect if the federal government is unable to meet its financial obligations.

If the U.S. were to default for the first time in history, many economists believe there would be catastrophic financial implications. The country is inching closer to the June 1st default deadline with no clear decision made on the debt ceiling.

Economists paint a grim picture of what a post-default economy would look like. Martin Lynch of Cambridge Credit Counseling told 22News that a blow like this to the U.S. credit rating would wreak havoc on financial markets.

“That’s going to be a problem that will impact people retiring now, for example. Even if the default is a day or two. That will affect U.S. credit, it’ll affect the credit rating, overnight borrowing on the federal level, which filters down to all of us. That will cause interest rates to rise, unemployment rates to rise,” explains Lynch.

Lynch added that the worst case scenario, if the U.S. were to default for any longer period of time, that could easily lead to an over 5-percent jump in the unemployment rate.

President Biden has been in talks with the top four congressional leaders working on negotiations on the debt ceiling. The president is set to meet with them again on Tuesday where “principal-level debt ceiling discussions” are expected to take place.