The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ monthly employment report, an important indicator of economic health that investors and policymakers watch closely, was not published as planned this morning, raising questions about the state of the labor market.
A BLS official confirmed that neither the September jobs report nor any other economic data will be released while the government remains shut down.
“The Bureau of Labor Statistics has suspended data collection, processing, and dissemination due to the lapse in appropriations,” William Wiatrowski, acting BLS commissioner said. “Once funding is restored, BLS will resume normal operations and notify the public of any changes to the news release schedule on the BLS release calendar.”
The data delay marks the first in over ten years and results from the Trump administration’s choice to furlough nearly all of the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ 2,055 employees during the shutdown, as outlined in the Department of Labor’s shutdown contingency plan.
“BLS will suspend all operations,” the plan reads. “Economic data that are scheduled to be released during the lapse will not be released. All active data collection activities for BLS surveys will cease.”
The August report indicated a significant slowdown in the job market, with the unemployment rate increasing to 4.3%.
By CEO NA Editorial Staff
