Jobs report faces delay with government shutdown

“All survey and other program operations will cease and the public website will not be updated,” said Erica Groshen, the commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, said in a Friday memo about the shutdown.

She noted that the “timing of any shutdown is critical.” 

Keith Hall, a former head of the BLS, suggested on Monday that the agency should expedite its work complete and release the data as soon as it is ready. 

Risking a delay, he argued, would do far more damage — leaks may occur and further harm the markets that are already roiled by the potential shutdown. 

Hall said most of the data should be ready to go — the BLS should already know the jobless rate — and would only need another day or two to complete work on the jobs number.

In the event of a shutdown, a small staff could get the report ready for an on-time release on Friday, Hall said.

“There’s no excuse for not doing it,” he said. It’s critical data that markets really want to know.”

The BLS is set to furlough nearly all of their 2,400 employees on Tuesday if the House and Senate fail to hammer out a deal within the next nine or so hours. 

Other economic indicators, including the the weekly unemployment claims report, will be released as usual on Thursday, the Labor Department said. 

But there was no such guidance for the jobs report.