US Labor Department urged to prioritize November employment, CPI data post-shutdown

Source: Reuters

November 12, 2025 4:09 PM EST Updated 11 hours ago


WASHINGTON, Nov 12 (Reuters) - The U.S. Labor Department's statistical agency should prioritize the production of November employment and inflation reports when the government reopens to ensure Federal Reserve officials have up-to-date information at their December policy meeting, economists said.

The House of Representatives was scheduled to vote on Wednesday on a stopgap funding package that could end the longest government shutdown in history, which has caused the suspension of data collection, processing and publishing by the Bureau of Labor Statistics as well as the Commerce Department's Census Bureau and Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Only the September Consumer Price Index report was published during the official government data blackout that started on October 1, making it hard to get a clear read of the economy, though private institutions tried to fill the void.

The delayed reports for September could be released starting next week. The White House on Wednesday said October jobs and inflation reports might never be released. Both reports have portions that rely on physical data collection that should have happened last month.

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/business/us-labor-department-urged-prioritize-november-employment-cpi-data-post-shutdown-2025-11-12/