US Partial Shutdown Continues, Jobs Data Delayed: Markets Wary of "Data Blackout"
As of Tuesday morning, February 3, 2026 (WIB), the United States remains in a partial shutdown after the U.S. Congress failed to pass funding on time. A temporary funding package has passed the U.S. Senate, and today's focus shifts to the U.S. House of Representatives, which is currently debating the rules, with a vote expected Tuesday (night WIB to early Wednesday WIB).
The White House is pushing for the package to be passed without changes so that government services can resume as soon as possible. Donald Trump stated that legislators are "close" to an agreement to end the shutdown.
BLS Delays Jobs Report & JOLTS: This is What Will Be Felt Most Immediately
The most immediate impact on the market came from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The BLS announced that the release of the January Employment Situation (Jobs) Report, originally scheduled for Friday, would be delayed, along with the December JOLTS (Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey) data, which was originally scheduled for Tuesday.
The BLS also emphasized that until funding is restored, data collection, processing, and publication will be impacted—meaning release schedules will be changed once the government is funded again.
What US data is potentially subject to cancellation/delay?
Confirmed delays include:
January Jobs Report (Employment Situation) — postponed.
December JOLTS — postponed.
Conditional delays include:
Other BLS releases (e.g., some regional/metro employment reports, annual revisions, and labor market-related reports).
BLS inflation (CPI/PPI) and key derivatives—Reuters highlighted that previous lengthy shutdowns have disrupted the publication of key data components (including the CPI and unemployment data), so the risk of delays increases if this shutdown is not resolved quickly.
The PPI, in particular, has a track record of being impacted by lapses in appropriations (a previous example of a particular release not being produced and being merged into the following month's release).
Note: "Canceled" in practice more often means postponed or merged into the next release schedule—the BLS will announce a new date once funding is restored.
Data remains relatively steady
Reuters said the U.S. Department of Commerce is still funded, so statistical agencies under its jurisdiction, such as the Bureau of Economic Analysis and the U.S. Census Bureau, are expected to continue releasing data (at least in terms of funding).
Why does the market care?
Without the Jobs Report and JOLTS, the market loses its primary compass for reading the U.S. labor force. When a "data blackout" occurs, market participants typically rely more on non-governmental indicators (e.g., private sector surveys) while waiting for the official BLS schedule to update.
Source: Newsmaker.id
