A big blank in the October jobs report: The unemployment rate
The omission renders decision-making trickier across the U.S. economy, including at the Federal Reserve, which is grappling with a third rate cut
The US Department of Labor headquarters in Washington, DC, US, which houses the Bureau of Labor Statistics. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The October jobs report will omit the month's unemployment rate, the White House said Thursday, leaving a big blank that could make it harder for policymakers and businesses to assess the state of the current labor market.
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With the government laboring to reopen, a string of postponed economic data releases is expected in the coming weeks, including the September and October jobs reports. The former is poised to be released quickly since most of the necessary data was already collected.
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The October data was originally scheduled for release on Nov. 7. But it didn't occur, since most employees at the Bureau of Labor Statistics were furloughed and unable to carry out their data-collecting work. The omission of jobless data renders decision-making trickier across the U.S. economy, including at the Federal Reserve, which is grappling with a third interest rate cut in December.
"The household survey wasn’t conducted in October, so we’re going to get half the employment report,” National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett said in a Fox News interview. “We’ll get the jobs part, but we won’t get the unemployment rate, and that’ll just be for one month.”
In a separate gaggle with reporters on Thursday morning, Hassett added: "We will never know what the unemployment rate was in October."
The Bureau of Labor Statistics did not immediately respond to a request for comment. It's the agency responsible for producing the monthly jobs and inflation reports.
The monthly jobs report hinges on two components: One survey goes out to employers to gather information about the number of workers on their payrolls. Another is sent to households to collect data on the unemployment rate by surveying people about their employment status.
In prior shutdowns such as one in 2013, the BLS had to delay a litany of releases and response rates tended to be lower during the reopening stages. The 2013 shutdown also ended a week after their usual schedule of issuing surveys, so it wasn't difficult for the agency to catch up. This time, it would have to send both surveys to households and businesses nearly a month late.
Experts warn it may take more time for BLS to gather and schedule data releases this time since it has lost 25% of its staff to federal layoffs since the start of the year. In addition, a quarter of its leadership slots are vacant.