WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis said on Friday it was working to update its schedule of economic data releases affected by the recently ended government shutdown.
“BEA is consulting with the U.S. Census Bureau, the Bureau of Labor Statistics and other data suppliers to determine the availability of data used to produce our economic indicators,” the statistical agency said in a statement. “We will publish updated release dates as soon as they are available.”
The 43-day shutdown, the longest in history, halted the collection, processing and publishing of government-issued economic data, including the closely watched monthly employment and inflation reports. The BEA produces the gross domestic product report as well as the personal income and consumer spending data. It also calculates the main inflation measures tracked by the Federal Reserve for monetary policy.
The advance GDP report for the third quarter was due in October. The shutdown has compromised the quality of October’s economic data, economists said, and they warned of a permanent partial blind spot as a result. White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said on Thursday October’s employment report would be released without the jobless rate because households were not interviewed during the relevant period to obtain the necessary information.
(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Andrea Ricci )
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