BLS Cancels 2 Economic Data News Releases After Government Shutdown

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) will not issue two of its economic data news releases because of the lingering effects of the government shutdown that ended last week.

The agency said on its webpage of revised news release dates that it has canceled the September Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) release that was scheduled for Nov. 4, and the October Employment Situation release that was scheduled for Nov. 7.

BLS said on that page that data from the JOLTS survey for September will be published with the October data, which is scheduled to be released on Dec. 9.

The agency also said that establishment survey data from the Current Employment Statistics survey for October will be published with the November data, which is set to be released on Dec. 16, but that household survey data from the Current Population Survey could not be collected for the October reference period because of the government shutdown.

“The household survey data is not able to be retroactively collected,” BLS said on the page. “The collection period for November 2025 data will be extended for both surveys, and extra processing time will be added.”

The September Employment Situation data that was originally scheduled to be released Oct. 3 is set to be released Thursday (Nov. 20), per the page.

It was reported Friday (Nov. 14) 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.

On Nov. 12, it was reported that White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that the October jobs report was not likely to ever be released because of the effects of the government 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.