BLS to Release September Employment Data on Nov. 20
September employment data that was delayed by the government shutdown is set to be released next week, but October data may never be released.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics said Friday (Nov. 14) that it will issue its employment situation release for September on Thursday (Nov. 20).
The release was previously scheduled for Oct. 3 but was delayed by a lapse in appropriations, the BLS said in a Friday announcement.
The Wall Street Journal flagged the announcement Friday, reporting that the jobs report is one of the indicators most needed by economists, analysts and investors and is especially important now due to the shaky labor market and uncertainty surrounding the future of interest rates.
The BLS’s release of the September jobs report will still leave a gap in data since that time, and the agency hasn’t said whether it will produce an October report, according to the WSJ report.
Kevin Hassett, director of the White House National Economic Council, said the October report won’t include an unemployment rate because the household survey that determines that rate was not conducted in October, per the report.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the October jobs report is not likely to ever be released because of the government shutdown, according to the report.
It was reported Wednesday (Nov. 12) that Leavitt told reporters that economic data that is crucial to policymakers, business leaders and financial markets may never be released because of the shutdown.
“All of that economic data released will be permanently impaired, leaving our policymakers at the Fed flying blind at a critical period,” Leavitt said, noting that the lack of October employment and inflation data makes it significantly more difficult to assess the economy’s health and the trajectory of inflation and wage growth to guide monetary policy.
When the BLS failed to publish unemployment claims due to the government shutdown, Haver Analytics and Goldman Sachs Group were among the organizations that released their own data. In addition, the Chicago Fed used private “real-time” data and other information to produce its own unofficial estimate of the national unemployment rate.
It was reported Thursday (Nov. 13) that the continuing resolution that temporarily restored funding, ending the 43-day government shutdown, provides funding only through Jan. 30, 2026, so there could be another shutdown in the offing.
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