These Are The Economic Reports We’re Still Waiting On After The Shutdown

Kyle Grillot / Bloomberg via Getty Images

Key Takeaways

• The federal government shutdown froze economic data releases, and agencies are still working to catch up. 
• While a handful of reports have been rescheduled, some have also been consolidated or canceled. Other new release dates are still expected for several key reports for September, October and November.

The government shutdown ended three weeks ago and statistical agencies are working to catch up on economic releases they missed.

After being closed for 43 days, the federal bureaus that track inflation, employment, and economic growth are behind schedule on several reports, but they are beginning to catch up.

This week, we’ll see inflation data for September, which was initially scheduled to be published in October. And there are several other unreleased reports that agencies like the Census Bureau, the Bureau of Economic Analysis and the Bureau of Labor Statistics still need to issue, cancel or combine. 

Why This Matters

Delayed economic reports can blur the outlook for inflation, jobs, and growth, complicating decisions for investors, businesses, and policymakers. Understanding the new schedule helps readers interpret upcoming market-moving data.

Here are some of the new release dates and schedule changes announced so far:

• Dec. 3: September industrial production and capacity utilization (Originally scheduled for Oct. 17 release)
• Dec. 5: September Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index, personal incomes and outlays(Originally scheduled for Oct. 31)
• Dec. 9: September and October Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS)(Originally scheduled for Nov. 4 and Dec. 2)
• Dec. 10: Q3 employment cost index (Originally scheduled for Oct. 31 )
• Dec. 16: November U.S. employment report, including October payrolls (Originally scheduled for Nov. 7 and Dec. 5; the household survey for October is cancelled)
• Dec. 18: November Consumer Price Index (CPI), including a subset of the October report (Originally scheduled for Nov. 13 and Dec. 10 releases )
• Dec. 23: Q3 Gross Domestic Product, initial estimate (The advance GDP estimate scheduled for Oct. 30 was cancelled. The Bureau of Labor Statistics will postpone a subsequent third quarter GDP estimate originally scheduled for Dec. 19.)
• Dec. 23: October and November industrial production and capacity utilization (Originally scheduled for Nov. 18 and Dec. 16 releases)

Here are some reports that still need to be rescheduled:

• September housing starts (Originally scheduled for Oct. 17 release; October and November reports are also not yet rescheduled)
• September new home sales (Originally scheduled for Oct. 24 release; October and November reports are also not yet rescheduled)
• September advanced reports on trade deficit, wholesale inventories and retail inventories (Originally scheduled for Oct. 29 release; October and November reports are also not yet rescheduled)
• September U.S. trade deficit (Originally scheduled for Nov. 4 release; October and November reports are also not yet rescheduled)
• September business inventories (Originally scheduled for a November release; the October report is also not yet rescheduled)
• October retail sales (Originally scheduled for November release; the November report is also not yet rescheduled)
• October PCE price index, personal incomes and outlays (Originally scheduled for Nov. 26; the November report is also not yet rescheduled)