A recruiter speaks with job seekers at the Appalachian State University Internship and Job Fair on Wednesday, October 1, 2025 in Boone, North Carolina, USA.
Alison Joyce | Bloomberg | Getty Images
The Bureau of Labor Statistics announced Wednesday that it will not release a complete U.S. employment report for October following the longest government shutdown in the country’s history.
Instead, the agency said October payroll data will be released along with November’s full report. The unemployment rate for October is not included in these numbers because the data was “unable to be collected,” the BLS said, citing the government shutdown.
The BLS also postponed the release of the November employment report from December 5th to December 16th. The new date will be six days after the Fed concludes its last policy meeting of the year, meaning it will have less information on economic conditions.
Without complete data for October, and after recent hawkish comments from some Fed officials, traders may be pricing in a low chance of another rate cut.
As of midday Wednesday, CME Group’s FedWatch tool showed a 63.8% chance that the central bank would keep the overnight benchmark rate stable in a range of 3.75-4%. This is up from about 50% the day before.
