BLS cancels October jobs report, pushes back November jobs report release date

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) will not publish its monthly “Employment Situation” jobs report for October, the agency said on Wednesday, citing its inability to adequately collect data during the government shutdown.

The BLS also announced that the November jobs report, originally scheduled for release on Dec. 5, will now be published on Dec. 16 and will contain what October data the agency was able to collect. The September jobs report, which was also delayed due to the shutdown, is scheduled for release on Thursday.

“Household survey data from the Current Population Survey could not be collected for the October 2025 reference period due to a lapse in appropriations,” the BLS said, noting that the household data is “not able to be retroactively collected.”

The monthly “Employment Situation” jobs reports are crucial and widely watched data releases that give the market an overview of the health of the labor market throughout the US. The Federal Reserve also leans on the jobs report for key input on its interest rate policy decisions.

Read more: How jobs, inflation, and the Fed are all related

Traders are currently predicting a 68.4% chance that the Fed holds the target rate steady, with no cut, when the Federal Open Market Committee meets in December.

However, “the jobs data could skew this pricing if it confirms a further softening of the labour market, which would play into the narrative of a weakening US economy, a key theme that has emerged in recent days and is driving some of the weakness in equities,” Capital.com analyst Daniela Hathorn said.

Fed governor Christopher Waller, seen as a frontrunner to be the next Fed chair, and Fed governor Stephen Miran have both called for rate cuts at the Dec. 9-10 meeting.

When September numbers are announced on Thursday, Wall Street economists are expecting to see 50,000 job gains, according to Bloomberg data.

Thursday’s release will be the first jobs report since the August numbers, which were published before the shutdown began. The August jobs report showed the unemployment rate at 4.3%. The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago estimated that the unemployment rate inched up slightly to 4.35% in September.

Private payrolls numbers from data provider ADP showed private-sector payrolls increased 42,000 in October after declining in the prior two months.

Jake Conley is a breaking news reporter covering US equities for Yahoo Finance. Follow him on X at @byjakeconley or email him at jake.conley@yahooinc.com.

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