US Bureau of Labor Not to Publish October Jobs Report

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) announced that it will not issue the monthly Employment Situation Report for October, a rare break from one of the most closely watched data releases in global markets. 

Instead, October’s payroll figures will be incorporated into the November jobs report, set for publication on December 16.

The agency said October’s household survey, used to calculate key metrics such as the unemployment rate, could not be collected retroactively. As a result, policymakers and economists will miss one of the final labor-market readings before the Federal Reserve’s last meeting of the year.

According to the BLS, extended data-collection windows will be applied to both surveys in November to compensate for the gap. Economists had expected at least the payroll component to be released for October, noting that establishments usually keep electronic records. 

But reaching households to ask respondents to recall their employment status during a specific week in October was deemed too unreliable to attempt retroactively.

The disruption underscores the heavy reliance of U.S. labor statistics on real-time data collection, particularly the household survey, which depends on timely phone interviews with workers.

Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, indicated last week that the report would likely be missing the unemployment rate, confirming concerns that the October series would not be published.

The absence of the October report means financial markets, businesses, and Fed officials will have to rely on alternative indicators to gauge labor-market momentum heading into year-end.