WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A looming government shutdown would be felt thousands of miles away by U.S. troops in Afghanistan and Iraq and there could be a high political cost for the lawmakers who let it happen.

Soldiers will not get their paychecks for the duration of the shutdown, leaving their families at home struggling to pay the bills.

Some relatives are already furious.

"Thanks for sending my husband to war and not paying him in return," the wife of one soldier exclaimed on a website, fearing delayed pay in the case of a shutdown.

The sharp reaction among military families underscores the political dangers for Republicans and Democrats if they fail to reach agreement on funding the government for the remainder of fiscal 2011 by midnight on Friday.

It also shows how U.S. troops have become a lightning-rod issue in the bitter budget battle in Washington.

Americans may be able to stomach most other fallout from the threatened government shutdown, like closed national parks or museums. But delaying paychecks to troops after nearly a decade of war likely would trigger a visceral response among voters, looking ahead to the 2012 presidential elections.

Many Americans know members of the military, and often count them in their families. There are about 2.2 million active duty, National Guard and reserve members of the armed forces.

CHEERS AND BOOS

Republicans and Democrats were desperate on Thursday to shift the blame for any fallout on troops.

Democrats slammed Republicans for rejecting a measure that would have funded troops while negotiations continued.

"Republicans said no," said Nadeam Elshami, a spokesman for House of Representatives Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi.

Republicans in the House passed a stop-gap spending measure that would have, among other things, ensured continued funding for the Pentagon. But President Barack Obama has said he would veto it because it also included $12 billion in additional federal spending cuts.

"If you vote against this bill, you are voting against the troops who are engaged in three wars," said House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers to a chorus of cheers and boos.

Democrats pushed back. The White House warned that failure to reach a deal would likely delay troops' pay, a message that Defense Secretary Robert Gates delivered to troops personally in Iraq on Thursday.

Gates told a U.S. soldier in Iraq that the degree of delay would depend on the length of the shutdown.

Soldiers are usually paid twice a month. If the shutdown begins on April 8, he said, soldiers' initial paychecks would be halved. If the shutdown lasted until April 30, they would miss an entire check. They would only be repaid later.

"I hope this thing doesn't happen, because I know it will be an inconvenience for a lot of troops," Gates said.

ANGRY REACTION

Many U.S. troops live paycheck to paycheck, with the average junior enlisted member -- typically with just a high school degree -- drawing a salary of about $43,000 per year.

The online comment section of Stars and Stripes, the leading Defense Department news publication, was full of angry reaction.

"My wife is back home working and all alone. I am not there to protect her and tell her everything is going to be OK," said one service member deployed abroad.

"There are half a million troops deployed to some ragged country who depend on their paycheck. Taking that away will turn our military upside down," wrote one service member in Afghanistan on the Stars and Stripes website.

Another service member stationed in Germany with his family fretted over the impact.

"Thanks a lot Uncle Sam; you're now the black sheep in the military family," he wrote.

(Additional reporting by Missy Ryan in Baghdad, Thomas Ferraro, Andy Sullivan and Alister Bull in Washington, editing by Xavier Briand)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – New claims for jobless benefits fell last week and retailers racked up much stronger-than-expected sales in March, signs that high fuel prices have not knocked the economy off its growth path.

Initial claims for state unemployment aid slipped 10,000 to 382,000, the Labor Department said on Thursday, a touch below economists' expectations and firmly beneath the 400,000 level associated with steady jobs growth.

Other data showed shoppers shrugged off higher gasoline prices last month to boost sales at many retailers as improving labor market conditions encouraged discretionary spending.

Same-store retailer sales had been expected to decline for the first time since August 2009, in part because Easter falls three weeks later than last year, delaying some spending.

"The claims report is one more piece of evidence that the general labor market is improving," said Patrick O'Keefe, head of economic research at J.H. Cohn in Roseland, New Jersey.

"The economy is growing and employers are no longer laying off workers because of a weakening in the general economic conditions but rather they doing so for normal business reasons."

The claims data underscored the strengthening labor market tenor and came on the heels of a report last week showing employers added 216,000 jobs in March, with the unemployment rate falling to a two-year low of 8.8 percent.

Last week, the four-week average of unemployment claims, a better measure of underlying trends, fell 5,750 to 389,500.

With the labor market conditions firming, consumers are feeling a little more confident to loosen their purse strings.

Sales at stores open at least a year rose 1.7 percent in a tally of 25 retailers, topping expectations of a 0.7 percent decline, according to Thomson Reuters.

GASOLINE TO DISTORT RETAIL SALES

The stronger-than-expected same-store sales bode well for the government's overall retail sales report for March, which is scheduled for release next week and is expected to be heavily influenced by the high gasoline prices.

They offered some relief after other data on consumer spending suggested a moderation in the pace of economic growth early in the year after a fairly brisk pace in the fourth quarter.

Consumer spending -- which accounts for about 70 percent of U.S. economic activity -- got off to slow start in the first two months of 2011 -- held back by bad weather. Rising gasoline prices also took spending away from other sectors.

The stronger-than-expected same-store sales were little boosted by inflation, given the nature of the merchandise which economists said was less sensitive to the high energy prices.

"Consumers have held back for a long time, there is a certain amount of pent-up demand. Wage growth isn't much, but we are also seeing an increase in income because of an increase in job growth," said Steve Blitz, a senior economist at ITG Investment Research in New York.

"Job growth also means that for those who are employed there is reduced concern about being laid off so the pent up demand is coming out."

With the latest fall, initial claims for jobless benefits are now beneath the 400,000 level, which is generally associated with steady job growth, for four weeks in a row.

The four-week average has held below that mark for the sixth straight week. Economists say both measures need to drop to about 300,000 to signal a strong labor market recovery.

Signs of improvement in the jobs market were also evident in the number of people still receiving benefits under regular state programs after an initial week of aid, which fell in the week ended March 26 to the lowest level since October 2008.

However, long-term unemployment remains a major problem.

A total of 8.52 million people were claiming unemployment benefits under all programs in the week ended March 19, the latest week for which data is available.

"While the labor market has stabilized and employment may be increasing, it's not increasing so rapidly that previously unemployed people who were claiming benefits are returning to work at a fast clip," said J.H. Cohn's O'Keefe.

(Additional reporting by Jessica Wohl in Chicago; Editing by Neil Stempleman)

PHOENIX (Reuters) – The Arizona House on Thursday approved a landmark bill allowing guns on campuses, making it only the second state in the nation to allow firearms to be carried at colleges and universities.

The Republican-led House voted 33 to 24 to allow firearms to be carried in the open or concealed in public rights of way, such as campus streets and roadways.

"We're allowing people to defend themselves," said Rep. David Gowan Sr., a Republican, who voted for the bill.

"The purpose of carrying a gun with you is to defend yourself against that aggressor," he added.

The measure now goes to Arizona's Republican Governor Jan Brewer. She has not said if she will sign it into law but has been a strong gun-rights advocate in the past.

If the measure is enacted, Arizona would join Utah as the only states to specifically allow such gun rights. Utah goes one step further, allowing firearms inside campus buildings.

The move comes as opponents and supporters face off across the country over gun laws, with nine states this year seeking to broaden citizens' rights to tote firearms on campuses.

Supporters of Arizona's bill argue that a person's constitutional right to bear arms should not be taken away just because he or she is on a campus. They claim that allowing guns there could save lives in the event of a campus shooting.

But the bill faced widespread opposition from college and university administrators, faculty and law enforcement officials.

Opponents claimed it would put campus police at a dangerous disadvantage in trying to prevent campus shootings.

Faculty groups at the state's three universities passed resolutions against the bill.

Rep. Steve Farley, a Democrat, said the idea strikes at the heart of higher education and will make it hard to attract top-flight faculty and staff.

"I don't believe this is a good move for us," he told legislators during the vote. "I think it compromises the key core goal of our universities ... (to) have a free and unintimidating exchange of ideas."

Other lawmakers questioned the bill because it does not specifically define what constitutes public rights of way. They said a legal challenge is likely.

(Reporting by David Schwartz; Editing by Tim Gaynor and Ellen Wulfhorst)