The U.S. Department of Labor said it would delay releases of economic data if the federal government shuts down this week, which could postpone Friday’s highly anticipated monthly jobs report.
On Friday, the Labor Department posted a 73-page “contingency plan” detailing operations if government funding lapses at midnight on Sept. 30. If that occurs, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) would suspend all operations, including data collection activities for BLS surveys, website updates and economic reports, the plan states.
The BLS is scheduled to release its report on September employment gains on Oct. 3. In a shutdown, government agencies must stop all non-essential functions until funding is approved by Congress and signed into law, except for programs that are funded from other sources, such as fees, or under other legislation.
The BLS’ closely watched monthly jobs report drew scrutiny last month when President Trump fired its commissioner of labor statistics after disappointing employment numbers. At the same time, the Federal Reserve has signaled it is closely watching the labor market for signs of weakness amid a hiring slowdown.
Awkward timing
Earlier this month, Fed Chair Jerome Powell cited headwinds facing the labor market as a key factor in the central bank’s vote for an interest rate cut earlier this month.
“The timing of the looming potential government shutdown is not ideal for the Fed, which is set to meet again on October 29th,” said Mike Reid, senior U.S. economist at the Royal Bank of Canada, in a research report.
Although it’s unclear whether a shutdown will occur or how long it could last, the possibility raises the risk that some government economic reports would not be available to the Fed before its next meeting on Oct. 29, he added.
“In our view, an increasingly data dependent Federal Reserve with limited visibility into the September data increases the probability of an October pause,” meaning that the Fed could hold off on an additional rate cut at the Oct. 29 meeting, Reid wrote.
Earlier this month, the BLS reported that employers added 22,000 jobs in August, falling short of economists’ forecasts. The September report, scheduled for Friday, is expected to show about 50,500 new hires, according to economists polled by FactSet.
“We believe that a shutdown will have only a small and transitory economic impact, but it may spur some financial market volatility, especially if delays in government economic reports obscure the path of Federal Reserve’s interest-rate cuts,” said Jennifer Timmerman, investment strategy analyst, in a Wells Fargo Investment Institute report released Monday.
