The White House in Washington, DC. Credit: Matthew/Adobe Stock
The U.S. government will probably be unable to release inflation data for October, the White House said today, citing the ongoing government shutdown. The funding lapse is preventing surveyors from deploying to the field, “depriving us of critical data,” the White House posted on X. It would be “the first time in history” the information is not published, the White House said.
“Democrats choosing to keep the government closed will likely result in no October inflation report, which will leave businesses, markets, families, and the Federal Reserve in disarray,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt wrote in a separate X post.
A spokesperson for the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), which produces the monthly consumer price index report, said all active data collection activities are paused while the government is shut down.
“Once funding is restored, BLS will resume normal operations and notify the public of any changes to the news release schedule on the BLS release calendar,” spokesperson Stacey Standish said. That is consistent with how BLS has handled previous lapses in government funding, according to a Labor Department official, who said the data-collection pause will delay the release of the October CPI report. Those figures were originally scheduled to be published on November 13.
While most BLS operations have ceased since the shutdown began on October 1, the agency recalled staff this month to prepare the September inflation report so the Social Security Administration could tally its annual cost-of-living adjustment to benefit checks as required by law, the Labor official said.
The U.S. government shutdown is stretching into its fourth week, as Senate Democrats have repeatedly blocked temporary spending bills, saying they cannot support such measures without an extension for health insurance subsidies. The lack of funding has prompted President Donald Trump’s administration to furlough large swaths of federal workers, including those at key agencies.
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