The Labor Department said Wednesday it would not release a full jobs report for October because a 43-day shutdown of the federal government meant it could not calculate the unemployment rate and some other key numbers.
Instead, it will release some October jobs data — primarily the number of jobs employers created last month — along with the full November jobs report, which is now due a few weeks later on December 16.
The Ministry’s report on the “employment situation” is usually published on the first Friday of the month. However, the government shutdown disrupted data collection and delayed the release of reports. For example, the September jobs report, which is now out on Thursday, was originally scheduled for October 3rd.
The monthly employment report consists of two parts: a household survey, which is used, among other things, to determine the unemployment rate; and the “establishment,” a survey of companies, nonprofits, and government agencies that is used to track job creation, wages, and other measures of labor market health.
The Labor Department said on Wednesday that the household survey for October could not be conducted due to the shutdown and could not be conducted retrospectively. However, he has been able to collect hiring numbers from employers and they will come out with the full November report.
Wednesday’s announcement means September’s jobs numbers are likely to come under closer scrutiny on Thursday. They are the last full measure of hiring and unemployment that Federal Reserve policymakers will see before they meet Dec. 9-10 to decide whether to cut their benchmark interest rate for the third time this year.
Job numbers have been in question lately. After July’s employment report turned out to be a disappointment, President Donald Trump abruptly fired the official in charge of collecting the data, Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner Erika McEntarfer.
McEntarfer herself was quick to say there was nothing suspicious about Wednesday’s announcement. “No conspiracy, people,” she wrote on the social network Bluesky. “The BLS was completely shut down for six weeks. Business payroll data can be collected back to October. The household survey cannot be done back. This is just a direct result of all field workers being furloughed for over a month.”
