BLS Cancels October Jobs Report, Couldn’t Collect Some Data
The Bureau of Labor Statistics said it will not publish an October employment report, and noted it will incorporate those payrolls figures into the November report set to be published in mid-December.
The BLS said October household data, which informs key statistics like the unemployment rate, could not be collected retroactively. The November employment report will be published Dec. 16, which means Federal Reserve officials will not have this data at their final meeting of the year.
The jobs report is comprised of two surveys, one of households and the other of establishments — which informs the payrolls figures. The agency also said it’s extending the collection periods for both the household and establishment surveys for November.
Economists had flagged the household data as at risk of being skipped due to the labor-intensive nature of how the numbers are gathered, but they still expected payrolls figures for October.
While many businesses retain their records and report the payroll numbers electronically, reaching workers by phone and asking them to recall their employment status for a particular week in October would be more difficult to conduct retroactively. The household survey, which BLS co-sponsors with Census, is conducted by interviewing about 60,000 households each month.
National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett said last week that the October jobs report wouldn’t include the unemployment rate.
The BLS is also foregoing the September Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey report, and will release that data with the October figures on Dec. 9. Fed officials begin their two-day meeting the same day. The agency has not yet announced a decision about when or if the October consumer price index will be released.
Source : Bloomberg.com
