Lack of jobs data hampers economists

From Wall Street trading floors to the Federal Reserve to economists sipping coffee in their home offices, the first Friday morning of the month typically brings a quiet hush around 8:30 a.m. Eastern time as everyone awaits the Labor Department’s crucial monthly jobs report.

- BY CHRISTOPHER RUGABER

However, with the government shutdown, no information was released Friday about hiring in September.

The interruption in the data has occurred at a particularly uncertain time, when policymakers at the Federal Reserve and Wall Street investors would need more data on the economy, rather than less.

Hiring has ground nearly to a halt, threatening to drag down the broader economy. Yet at the same time, consumers — particularly higher-income earners — are still spending, and some businesses are ramping up investments in data centers, developing artificial intelligence models.

Whether that is enough to revive hiring remains to be seen.

It’s the first time since a government shutdown in 2013 that the jobs report has been delayed. During the 2018-19 partial government closure, the Labor Department was one of several agencies that remained open because Congress had agreed to fund it September’s jobs figures will be released eventually once the shutdown ends.

If the shutdown continues for another week or more, it could also postpone the release of other highprofile data, including the next inflation report, set for Oct. 15.

The Trump administration has blamed Senate Democrats for the shutdown, while Democrats levy similar charges against the White House.

“Businesses, families, policymakers, markets and even the Federal Reserve are flying blind at a key juncture in America’s economic resurgence because the Democrats’ government shutdown has halted the release of key economic data,” White House spokesman Kush Desai said.