WASHINGTON — The government shutdown that ended this week will cost the United States economy several billion dollars, according to estimates by economic research firms.

But the affiliated damage — like the undermining of consumer and business confidence — will be far greater, economists said, especially combined with the financial effects of the near-breach of the country’s statutory debt ceiling.

When the federal government shut down on Oct. 1, permit offices across the country stopped accepting fees, contractors stopped receiving checks and research projects became stalled. Such disruptions come with a price tag, although it will be small in the context of the $3.5 trillion the federal government spends every year.

It might take months for the Obama administration to come up with a thorough accounting of the direct cost to the taxpayers of putting much of the government out of business and then reopening it. Several offices, including the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the National Institutes of Health, said they were in the process of gauging the disruptions.