Labor Department delays January jobs report because of partial shutdown

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: Associated Press, via WTOP

Labor Department delays January jobs report because of partial shutdown

The Associated Press
February 2, 2026, 1:40 PM


FILE - A sign with information about employment is displayed during a job fair in Dallas, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/LM Otero, File)(AP/LM Otero)

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Labor Department, citing the partial federal government shutdown, said Monday that it will not release the January jobs report on Friday as scheduled.

In a statement, the department's Bureau of Labor Statistics said: "Once funding is restored, BLS will resume normal operations and notify the public of any changes to the news release schedule.'' It is also postponing the December report on job openings, which was supposed to come out Tuesday.

The jobs report and other key economic statistics were previously delayed by a record 43-day government shutdown last fall. ... Economists had expected the January jobs report to show that employers added 80,000 jobs last month, up from 50,000 in December.

The delay in data comes at a bad time. The economy is in a puzzling place. ... Growth is strong: Gross domestic product -- the nation's output of goods and services -- advanced from July through September at the fastest pace in two years. ... But the job market is sluggish: Employers have added just 28,000 jobs a month since March. In the 2021-2023 hiring boom that followed COVID-19 lockdowns, by contrast, they were creating 400,000 jobs a month.

{snip}

Read more: https://wtop.com/business-finance/2026/02/labor-department-delays-january-jobs-report-because-of-partial-shutdown/

[BumRushDaShow]

1. That's ridiculous

I would think that was probably 90% done... But then the media informed us that once the Senate passed their package last Friday, "the shutdown would be averted" and then Mikie announced they would be back by tomorrow.

[Walleye]

2. I assume the job report isn't good, or they would be bragging about it not holding it up

[Rebl2]

12. Exactly

Probably as bad or worse than December report

[mahatmakanejeeves]

6. There was an infographic in the "Washingtonian" magazine maybe fifteen years ago.

It gave a timeline of the stages of preparation of the monthly payroll employment report. I believe the numbers are presented to the White House on Tuesday evening. I don't know how complete they are.

I've been pacing myself this afternoon clearing a path to the street. I don't need to go anywhere, as I am well stocked up on food.

I'm mostly done, but tomorrow morning I'll have the sun doing a lot of the work for me.

No JOLTS tomorrow either.

[BumRushDaShow]

7. I figured there would be a review schedule in place prior to a release

that would get adjusted based on the month.

And I am still trying to recover from a couple days of glacier chopping and snow moving and was glad to NOT get hit by that "bomb cyclone". Supposed to have a clipper come through here tomorrow evening though so need to take the car "out for a walk" before that to keep the battery charged after the frigid temps the past week, and then cocoon!

[progree]

8. Last time, rump tweeted them out the night before. They are shown to the entire Council of Economic

Advisers, in a huge breech of protocol, but the thread doesn't say when rump and the CEA first sees them. I presume the night before, but maybe earlier...

Trump Shares Partial Jobs Data on Social Media Before Key Employment Report
Source: Barron's
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143595753

mahatmakanejeeves

[progree]

3. Argh, was hoping to see the final annual benchmark revision of the payroll jobs numbers this Friday

which is scheduled to be released with the January jobs report, but that's not going to be released Friday as we expected until now.

The preliminary revision of the April 1, 2025 thru March 31, 2026 12-month benchmark period came out in September: it was a downward revision of 911,000 jobs (that's an average of 75,917 jobs/month). .

The data series for this was NOT revised for the 911,000 because it was only a preliminary report.

But it's my understanding with the publication of the January jobs report (and thus the final annual benchmark revision), that this data series would be revised accordingly. So I was eager to see how they would apportion that.

=================================================

https://www.bls.gov/bls/2026-february-shutdown.htm

Suspension of Federal Government Services
This website is currently not being updated due to the suspension of Federal government services. The last update to the site was Monday, February 2, 2026. Updates to the site will start again when the Federal government resumes operations.

And that's the entirety of what's at the link. Not one of those "tl;dr, I will bookmark to read later" long-form reading assignments.

[Javaman]

4. yeah cool story.

the report is yet another dumpster fire.

[orangecrush]

5. Sure, Jan

[mdbl]

9. Whatever Marcia.

[orangecrush]

10. ...

[DallasNE]

13. The Government Shutdown Happened

Because the House was not in session to vote on the Senate passed bill to keep the government open. Thanks Johnson.