epa11471774 The White House in Washington, DC, USA, 10 July 2024. NATO leaders, who are meeting for a three-day NATO summit in Washington, will send five long-range air-defense systems for Ukraine, after President Volodymyr Zelenskiy asked for more help in the wake of stepped-up Russian strikes on his country. EPA-EFE/Graeme Sloan / POOL By Lucia Mutikani
The employment report, crucial for decision-making by officials at the Federal Reserve, businesses and households, is scheduled for Friday. Government funding will expire at midnight on Tuesday unless Republicans and Democrats agree to a last-minute temporary spending deal.
The Labor Department identified the Bureau of Labor Statistics as among the key agencies whose activities would cease during a lapse in funding. President Donald Trump was due to meet with Republican and Democratic leaders on Monday.
While it would suspend some activities, the statistical agency said it would publish the August Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment report due on Wednesday.
Similarly, the Commerce Department said monthly economic indicators from the U.S. Census Bureau would not be available in the event of a government shutdown. The department's Bureau of Economic Analysis would cease most services.
The Census Bureau is scheduled to release U.S. construction spending data for August on Wednesday and manufacturers' shipments, inventories and orders for August on Thursday.
The two agencies are scheduled to release data on August international goods and services trade on October 7. A prolonged shutdown could impact the Bureau of Economic Analysis' initial estimate of third-quarter gross domestic product due on October 30.
BLS also said a prolonged shutdown could delay the release of other data.
"Once funding is restored, BLS will resume normal operations and notify the public of any changes to the news release schedule on the BLS release calendar," the agency said in a statement.
It was not clear whether the weekly jobless claims report would continue to be published. The data is collected by states, which run the unemployment insurance programs, but the BLS does the seasonal adjustment.
CONCERNS ARE RISING OVER DATA QUALITY
Possible delays publishing the employment report would come at a time when concerns are growing over the quality of government-produced economic data, long viewed as the gold standard.
The BLS warned "a reduction in quality of data collected might impact the quality of future estimates produced."
The BLS has suffered years of underfunding under both Republican and Democratic administrations. That situation has been worsened by mass firings, voluntary resignations, early retirements and hiring freezes, which are part of an unprecedented campaign by the Trump administration to drastically reduce the size of government.
Response rates for the employment report have declined and the agency has suspended data collection for portions of the consumer price index in some areas across the country.
Should September's CPI report be delayed, that could leave the Social Security Administration unable to make its annual Cost of Living Adjustment announcement, which retirees depend on to plan their budgets.
(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Additional reporting by David Lawder and Courtney Rozen; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)