WASHINGTON (AP) — Citing the partial federal government shutdown, the U.S. Labor Department said it will not release the January jobs report as scheduled for Friday.
In a statement, the department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics said: “Once funding is restored, the Bureau will resume normal operations and will notify the public of any changes to the news release schedule.” It also postponed the December report on vacancies, which was supposed to be released Tuesday.
The jobs report and other key economic statistics were delayed by a record 43-day government shutdown last fall.
Economists expected the January jobs report to show that employers added 80,000 jobs in January, up from 50,000 in December.
The data delay comes at a bad time. The economy is in a disconcerting situation.
Growth is strong: Gross Domestic Product, the national production of goods and services, advanced from July to September at the fastest pace in two years.
But the labor market is slow: Employers have added just 28,000 positions a month since March. In contrast, in the 2021-2023 hiring boom that followed the Covid lockdowns, they were creating 400,000 jobs a month.
Economists are trying to figure out whether hiring will accelerate to catch up with strong growth, or whether growth will slow to match weak hiring, or whether advances in artificial intelligence and automation mean the economy can move forward without creating many jobs.
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