The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) announced that it will not release inflation information for October, citing the effects of the recent government shutdown.
The agency updated its website Friday to announce that specific data for October is not available, even now that government funding has been restored and normal operations have resumed.
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“BLS was unable to collect survey data for the October 2025 base period due to budget lapses,” the statement said. “BLS cannot collect these data retroactively.”
The canceled data includes the Consumer Price Index (CPI), a report commonly used to calculate inflation by measuring changes in the cost of retail goods, and the Real Earnings Summary, which tracks wages for U.S. workers.
The bureau announced that some reports, such as the Consumer Price Index, will be calculated using “non-survey data sources” and included in future November reports.
The consumer price index for November will also be released on December 18, later than expected.
The most recent government shutdown was the longest in U.S. history, lasting approximately 43 days.
The action began Oct. 1 after the U.S. Congress missed a Sept. 30 deadline to pass legislation to keep the government funded.
Republicans had hoped to pass a continuing resolution that would leave current spending levels unchanged. But Democrats have balked at that prospect, arguing that recent restrictions on government programs have left some Americans without access to health care.
They also warned that insurance subsidies under the Affordable Care Act are set to expire by the end of the year. If these subsidies aren’t extended, many Americans’ insurance premiums will skyrocket, they said.
Republicans rejected the prospect of negotiating the issue until a continuing resolution was passed. Democrats, on the other hand, were concerned that if the continuing resolution was passed without changes, they would not have a chance to address health care costs before the end of the year.
As a result, the two sides reached an impasse. During the government shutdown, non-essential government functions were suspended and many federal employees were furloughed.
It wasn’t until November 10th that a breakthrough began to appear. Later that night, seven Democrats and one independent broke away from their caucus and sided with Republicans, passing a budget that funds the government through January 30.
The bill was then approved by the House of Representatives on November 12 by a vote of 222-209. President Donald Trump signed the bill into law on the same day.
Mr. Trump openly sought to use the government shutdown to eliminate federal programs he saw as benefiting Democratic strongholds.
He also sought to blame the decline in government services on the political left, even as he acknowledged public dissatisfaction with Republicans after Democrats won key elections in November.
“If you read the polls, the government shutdown was a big factor, and it was negative for Republicans. That was a big factor,” he said at a breakfast meeting for Republican senators on Nov. 5.
The Trump administration warned in October that consumer price data for that month would be adversely affected as a result of the government shutdown.
In a White House statement, Trump officials touted the president’s economic record while blaming possible flaws in the government’s data collection. They once again placed the blame for slowing economic growth on Democrats.
“Unfortunately, a Democratic shutdown risks halting that progress,” the statement said.
“Unable to send researchers on the ground, the White House has learned that for the first time in history, next month’s inflation announcement will likely not be made. This deprives policymakers and markets of critical data and puts them at risk of economic catastrophe.”
According to the Consumer Price Index for September, the latest available, inflation for all retail items rose by about 3% compared to the previous 12 months.
When it comes to food, the inflation rate for the period was estimated at 3.1%.
