WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. government shutdown would inflict real harm on ordinary Americans and hinder the country's economy, a top White House aide said Thursday.

A shutdown "would have very real effects on services the American people rely on, as well as the economy as a whole," Jeffrey Zients, deputy director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, told reporters.

(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle and Alister Bull, editing by Will Dunham)