The longest federal government shutdown in history ended Wednesday evening.

The short-term spending bill Congress passed means federal workers can return to work, receive back pay and, for many of them, avoid losing their jobs before the holidays. Thousands of layoffs initiated over the past month and a half were rescinded as part of the deal, while future workforce reductions have been paused through the end of January.

For the rest of the population, it means federal food assistance benefits will resume, flights will shift back to normal scheduling, and government services will open back up.

In the D.C. region, where economic success is closely tied to the federal government, the end to the 43-day shutdown comes with relief. Public transit and federal corridors will start filling up again, the region’s more than 356,000 federal workers will be compensated retroactively, and those worried about their jobs have a few more months of security

The Trump administration had threatened to withhold back pay and use the government shutdown to propel its workforce reductions. Agencies issued layoff notices to 4,200 employees in mid-October, most of which were on hold as a result of a court order.

“Nobody wants to be furloughed, but I think this time, the threat seemed more existential for many people,” D.C. Policy Center Executive Director Yesim Sayin said.

But for the region’s economy, the government closure was just one of a slew of federally fueled blows since President Donald Trump took office in January — from large-scale cuts to the federal workforce and contractor budgets to the deployment of National Guard troops on the streets of the city.

“The importance of federal government closure has declined in D.C. because we kind of have bigger problems right now,” Sayin said.

The newly passed budget is also a short-term fix. It funds most government operations through the end of January, meaning lawmakers will still have to contend with the budget issue and the question of expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies in the coming months.

“This isn’t so much an end to the shutdown as it is continuing uncertainty, because we’ll have to deal with all of this again at the end of January,” said Brookings Institution fellow Tracy Hadden Loh, a regional expert who sits on the board of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority.

Sayin said the anxiety in the city won’t “diminish to zero,” given the January deadline.

“There is a sigh of relief, for sure, among many, especially those who are vulnerable, depend on the federal government — employees, contractors and whatnot,” she said.