The White House announced that inflation data for October will not be released next month due to the US government shutdown.
This could lead to the first gap in the data series that has continued uninterrupted for over 100 years.
The White House, which stated that the federal government has been shut down for 24 days due to a budget dispute between Republicans and Democrats, said, “Because field studies cannot be conducted, it appears that for the first time in history, inflation data will not be released next month.”
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that a limited number of personnel were temporarily called in to release the September Consumer Price Index (CPI) data only, but all other data collection and publication activities were halted for as long as the government shutdown continued.
Nearly 700,000 federal employees are furloughed, while a similar number of public sector workers remain without pay. This could force many households to postpone spending.
The September Consumer Price Index (CPI) report was released so the Social Security Institution could calculate the cost of living increase through 2026. However, experts warn that the current shutdown could have far-reaching effects even wider than the longest government shutdown in 2018-2019.
“It seems almost inevitable now. Normally, the BLS would start collecting October data at the beginning of the month. It will be difficult to make up for that because of staffing shortages and the adjustments that need to be made to the systems,” said former BLS Commissioner Erica Groshen.
Steven Englander, head of global G10 foreign exchange research at Standard Chartered, stated that publishing a CPI report with incomplete or estimated data would further weaken data quality. “We might miss a month of data, and November will be partially affected, but that’s not a disaster. It’s just an inconvenience,” he said.
*This is not investment advice.