WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Labor Department said on Monday its statistics agency would suspend economic data releases, including the closely watched monthly employment report for September, in the event of a partial government shutdown.
The employment report, crucial for decision-making by officials at the Federal Reserve, businesses and households, is due on Friday.
Government funding will expire at midnight on Tuesday unless Republicans and Democrats in Congress can agree to a last-minute temporary
spending deal. The Labor Department identified the Bureau of Labor Statistics among the key agencies whose activities would cease during a lapse in funding.
President Donald Trump was scheduled to meet with Republican and Democratic leaders on Monday. Possible delays publishing the employment report would come at a time when concerns are growing over the quality of government-produced economic data, long viewed as the gold standard.
The BLS has suffered years of underfunding under both Republican and Democratic administrations. That situation has been worsened by mass firings, voluntary resignations, early retirements and hiring freezes, which are part of an unprecedented campaign by the Trump administration to drastically reduce the size of government.
Response rates for the employment report have declined and the agency has suspended data collection for portions of the consumer price index in some areas across the country.
The nomination of Heritage Foundation economist E.J. Antoni, a critic of the BLS, to head the statistics agency is also adding another layer of worry over data quality. Economists across political ideologies have described Antoni as unqualified for the position.
(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani and Courtney Rozen; Editing by Mark Porter and Andrea Ricci)
