Ben Casselman

Since the shutdown began, the Bureau of Labor Statistics has not been gathering the new data it needs to produce future reports, since its staff is furloughed.

Data show a resilient economy. But that largely reflects spending by the rich, while others pull back amid high prices and a weakening labor market.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics is calling back some employees to produce the Consumer Price Index for September. That data is needed to calculate the annual cost-of-living adjustment for Social Security beneficiaries.

E.J. Antoni, a conservative economist, had faced bipartisan criticism as President Trump’s nominee to lead the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Ben Casselman, the chief economics correspondent for The New York Times, describes the economic effects of a government shutdown.

“Flying blind amidst heavy fog is a dangerous proposition,” one economist said about the risks of a lapse in official statistics.

The review comes weeks after President Trump fired the head of the statistics agency after an unexpectedly weak monthly jobs report.

Preliminary annual revisions could add to political pressure on the agency that produces the data.

Employers added only 22,000 jobs in August, and the unemployment rate rose slightly to 4.3 percent. Revised data also showed that employment fell by 13,000 jobs in June, the first net loss since December 2020.

President Trump’s decision to fire the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics has prompted questions about political interference.