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The federal shutdown has erased the government’s October jobs report and delayed the November release, eliminating a major data point just as sluggish hiring and persistent inflation have stoked fears of a broader economic slowdown.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics confirmed Wednesday that October’s employment report — one of the government’s most closely watched monthly indicators — will not be published. The agency said the shutdown left it unable to collect data from its household survey, a core component of the report that measures unemployment, labor force participation and wage trends.
“Household survey data from the Current Population Survey could not be collected for the October 2025 reference period due to a lapse in appropriations,” BLS said in a statement, noting it “is not able to be retroactively collected.”
November report delayed; partial October data to be included
The November report, normally released on the first Friday of December, will instead be published Dec. 16, according to an updated BLS schedule. It will include some October data gathered from government and industry payrolls — but without the household survey’s unemployment measures, economists will be left without the report’s defining metrics.
BLS said that for November’s data, “the collection period… will be extended for both surveys, and extra processing time will be added.”
September’s jobs numbers were released Thursday morning, showing that the U.S. added 119,000 jobs during the month.
JOLTS data also affected
Another cornerstone of the government’s labor monitoring — the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey — will also face disruptions. Instead of releasing September JOLTS data separately, BLS will combine it with October’s figures in a Dec. 9 release.
Fed loses key input ahead of December meeting
The disruption further complicates the Federal Reserve’s December 9–10 policy meeting, where officials are weighing whether to cut interest rates again. Labor market data is a critical component of the Fed’s economic assessment, helping policymakers calibrate efforts to support growth without reigniting inflation.
With the November report coming after the meeting, Fed officials will be forced to make decisions with less information than usual — an uncommon scenario for the central bank.
Traders’ expectations for a December rate cut fell sharply after Wednesday’s announcement. Market odds of a cut dropped from about 50% on Tuesday to roughly 36% by Wednesday afternoon.
Political pressure over rate cuts
President Donald Trump has aggressively pushed the Fed to lower rates, arguing it would provide needed economic momentum despite risks of fueling higher inflation. The missing data complicates that push, leaving policymakers with heightened uncertainty at a moment of political and economic sensitivity.
