White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Wednesday that the October jobs report and inflation data will likely not be released even after the government reopens. 
The Bureau of Labor Statistics was largely idle for the duration of the 40-plus day shutdown, except for temporary recall of some to ensure that the September consumer price index was released in time to set the Social Security cost-of-living-adjustment for next year.

Because of the shutdown the agency was not able to collect price data and employment information that go into its most closely watched releases. Economic experts are wary of attempting to do so retroactively for fear of getting flawed data due to so-called recall bias, or the known difficulty in getting accurate past data.

“Democrats may have permanently damaged the federal statistical system with October CPI and jobs reports likely never being released,” Leavitt told reporters. “All of that economic data released will be permanently impaired, leaving our policy makers at the [Federal Reserve] flying blind at a critical period.”

The jobs numbers for September have also not been released, though they were largely collected and compiled prior to the shutdown. That data is expected to come out within days of the government reopening.

Experts have been expressing concerns that a protracted shutdown could impair the government statistical apparatus at a time when Wall Street and policymakers are desperate for an up-to-date picture on the job market and the economy. Leaders of the Federal Reserve are scheduled to meet the second week of December and could be forced to work with an incomplete economic picture if the White House’s warnings come to pass. 

Payroll processor ADP has recently begun releasing weekly job estimates, in addition to its own monthly jobs report, but many experts say that such private-sector alternatives are not a proper substitute for the comprehensive data collected by the government in which policy makers depend upon.