Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren is pressing the Trump administration to release the September jobs report on Friday, despite the ongoing government shutdown. Every month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) puts together one of the most important reports you’ve probably never heard of. This report provides some important trends as they relate to employment for U.S.
In normal years, the September jobs report would be a marquee month for the nation’s businesses and families. This informs the decisions of both policymakers and markets. The Labor Department’s contingency plan indicates that all critical economic data would not be released during a shutdown. This encompasses the crucial monthly jobs report, as the BLS’s work is entirely frozen in place.
William Beach, the former BLS commissioner during President Trump’s first term, stated that the September data from the BLS’s surveys of businesses and households has already been collected and processed. This calls into serious doubt the administration’s rationale for keeping its release under wraps.
Yesterday, Senator Warren sent a letter to William Wiatrowski, the acting commissioner of the BLS. She did the same with Russ Vought, who was Trump’s budget chief. In that letter, she made clear that it was essential for the release of that jobs report to go out as planned.
“Let’s be clear: the jobs data scheduled to come out this Friday has undoubtedly been collected and the President must release it,” – Elizabeth Warren
Warren had previously and extremely publicly criticized the decision to withhold the report. He noted that this data has already long been collected and processed and that there was ample opportunity to publicly release it ahead of the shutdown, but the administration is still opting not to publicly release it.
Private-sector payrolls unexpectedly fell in September, according to recent ADP data, marking the first decline in September on record. This highlights how urgent the need was for this report to be released. This would imply ongoing softening in the labor market, which underscores the importance of early, high-frequency economic data.
If the shutdown continues, it will cause backlogs in other major economic indicators. This is particularly true with two big inflation reports coming in around mid-October and import-export data out on October 7. GDP and inflation estimates are due at the end of October. These numbers might be affected by recent good news.
The Bureau of Economic Analysis, a Commerce Department agency, said Friday that it would shut down. It will start back up only after Congress appropriates new funding for this fiscal year. The public effects of these delayed releases could impact multiple sectors as stakeholders from the private, nonprofit, and governmental realms rely heavily on precise public data to inform their choices.
Chalking the shutdown up to Democrats and blaming Democrats for the shutdown—with this out-of-touch answer—was White House spokesman Kush Desai’s reply to Warren’s critiques. He stated that they are “gleefully throwing a wrench in our economy by shutting down the government to push freebies for illegal immigrants.”
“Businesses, families, policymakers, and markets rely on timely and accurate public data for their decision-making, and it’s unfortunate that Democrats are gleefully throwing a wrench in our economy by shutting down the government to push freebies for illegal immigrants,” – Kush Desai
In her letter, Warren noted that President Trump holds the power to ensure that critical information continues to be produced and released during the shutdown. She explained that failing to release this kind of data could have nationwide implications.
“Donald Trump has the power to make sure the federal government can continue producing and releasing this critical information on Friday and beyond during his shutdown,” – Elizabeth Warren
The current federal government shutdown has introduced doubt not only into the job numbers, but into many other economic indicators as well. Forthcoming data releases are being closely monitored by businesses and policymakers alike. They’re doing so to be ready for developing changes in strategy, while working with limited information.