The government’s October jobs report, which was delayed by the federal shutdown, will not be published, removing a crucial data point at a time when a stagnant labor market and sticky inflation have raised fears of a broader economic slowdown.
The November jobs report, typically published on the first Friday of December, will be published but has been moved to Dec. 16, according to an updated Bureau of Labor Statistics schedule.
In addition to the November data, BLS will also publish some October jobs information that was collected from government and private industry payrolls — but crucially, not from its traditional survey of individual households.
“Household survey data from the Current Population Survey could not be collected for the October 2025 reference period due to a lapse in appropriations,” BLS said in a statement, and it is “not able to be retroactively collected.”
Likewise, the “collection period for November 2025 data will be extended for both surveys, and extra processing time will be added.”
September’s jobs data is due to be released Thursday morning.
A separate set of data on job openings and labor turnover, known as JOLTS, will also be released under an adjusted schedule.
Instead of a issuing a standalone September JOLTS release, BLS will publish information from that month with the October data on Dec. 9, BLS said.
The loss of the October jobs report and the delay of November’s will complicate the task facing the Federal Reserve. Its open markets committee is preparing to weigh another interest rate cut at its meeting Dec. 9-10, which falls before the release of the November report. Labor market data is a major part of the way its members analyze the economy and whether it should raise or cut its influential interest rates.
It’s looking less likely the Fed will lower its key rate. On Tuesday, traders put about a 50% chance that the central bank would cut. By Wednesday, after the release of the BLS news, odds declined to around 36%.
President Donald Trump has pushed aggressively for more cuts, which could offer a boost to the U.S. economy but risk fueling higher inflation.
