Blackout Cost New York $36m an Hour

The blackout that swept across America's north-east at the end of last week cost New York City's already struggling economy $1.1bn (£680m), officials said - roughly $36m an hour.

The power outage caused $800m in losses from the interruption to productivity as offices, restaurants and cinemas closed early on Thursday and power returned to the city only sporadically on Friday, according to New York City comptroller William Thompson.

Another $250m was lost in perishable goods thrown out from supermarkets and restaurants.

In addition, New York's mayor, Michael Bloomberg, estimated that the city would lose $40m in tax revenues and pay out $10m in overtime to police and other city workers.

The blackout could not have come at a worse time for the city, which is already facing its worst fiscal crisis in 30 years, forcing it to cut spending by $3bn and lay off 4,700 staff.

The transit authority said that almost $7m would be lost in fares as the subway and train systems shut down.

The financial damage to the economically important region came as consumer confidence was already sliding, according to figures published yesterday.

The August index from the University of Michigan was worse than expected, at 90.2, and showed a marked fall from the previous month's 90.9.

President Bush yesterday said he was confident that Congress could start work on a reworked energy bill within the next 20 days that would address the problems behind the worst-ever blackout in north America.

One focus of the energy bill has been a plan to rewrite power grid rules. "One thing is for certain, [Congress is] very confident they'll have mandatory reliability standards in the energy bill," Mr Bush said. It will also contain incentives for investment in the antiquated US infrastructure, he added.

Officials are still trying to determine what caused the blackout but are focusing on three power transmission lines near Cleveland, Ohio, owned by FirstEnergy Corporation.