White House National Economic Council Director: Some U.S. October data may be permanently lost

Kevin Hassett, the director of the White House National Economic Council, stated that the record-long government shutdown means that some economic data that should have been collected in October may never be recorded, making it difficult to comprehensively assess the health of the U.S. economy: "As far as I understand, some surveys were actually never completed, so we may never know what happened that month. We will be in a state of blurred vision for a while until the data agencies resume operations." Statistical agencies, including the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and the Census Bureau, were unable to conduct data collection during the government shutdown, which particularly affected reports that rely on manual collection. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics may not be able to release the Consumer Price Index (CPI), an important inflation indicator, which was originally scheduled for October. Economists are also concerned about another household survey that is similarly affected, which is used to calculate the unemployment rate. Economic forecasters are trying to deduce the order in which various data reports will be released once the U.S. government reopens. The September employment report was supposed to be released on October 3, and since data had already been collected before the government shut down on October 1, it is expected to be the easiest data to organize. The problem is that agencies were already under pressure due to staff shortages before the shutdown, and now they must decide how to schedule delayed and upcoming reports with more than half of November already gone. Economists and investors expect that once the agencies restart, there will be a "concentrated data explosion." Hassett stated that the 42-day shutdown will impact the U.S. economy, but growth is expected to resume by early 2026. "Some data will be permanently lost, some will not. But I expect that by the first quarter of next year, we will return to a growth level of 3% to 4%." The U.S. Senate passed a bill to restore government operations late Monday night, and the House of Representatives is expected to approve the measure as early as Wednesday night, after which it will be sent to President Trump for signing