The Bureau of Labor Statistics announced Friday it was canceling a separate release of its October inflation report because it could not collect the data in real time. Instead, the agency said it would include partial consumer price data “where possible” in the November report, which has now been pushed back to Dec. 18.
The BLS attributed the cancellation to a seven-week government shutdown that stopped virtually all data collection activities. Since the federal government reopened last week, the agency has been scrambling to catch up and set new release dates for the November employment and inflation reports.
The BLS announcement means the Federal Reserve will begin its two-day meeting on Dec. 9 and 10 armed with September inflation and employment reports as the latest data available. The US economy added 119,000 jobs in September. according to delayed data released Thursday.
Earlier this week, the agency also canceled the October jobs report because it was unable to send out household surveys that are a key component of last month's report. Sending out these surveys after the fact risks confusing economic statistics with inaccurate responses.
The rejected reports come as the Federal Open Market Committee, which is tasked with managing interest rates at the Fed, is unable to decide how to proceed.
Recent minutes from the FOMC's two-day September meeting, released Wednesday, said “participants expressed very different views” on the appropriate actions to take in December. Some officials are advocating another cut in interest rates, while others are calling for caution and inaction at the final meeting of the year to avoid derailing the U.S. economy.
Supporters of a third interest rate cut this year have received support from New York Fed President John Williams, who is considered a supporter of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.
For Friday speech Marking the 100th anniversary of Chile's central bank, Williams said he continued to see “opportunity for further adjustment in the near future” of interest rates, signaling support for another cut.
