US data releases continue disrupted due to government shutdown

FXstreet.com (Barcelona) - Due to the government shutdown in the US this week, many pieces of economic data failed to be published. Most notable was today´s lack of the US Nonfarm Payrolls numbers release, the most observed economic indicator.

The employment report, expected to come in at 179K jobs added in September, in comparison with with the previous reading of 169K, has recently been watched even more closely than ever, as the data has influence on the Fed´s decision on when to start reducing the size of its QE program. Therefore, “the fact that the jobs report will not be released until after the government reopens surely takes the 'Octaper' off the table,” as Craig Erlam from Alpari (UK) suggests.

Still, the Labor Department managed to publish other employment data such as the ADP Employment Change on Wednesday and the Initial Jobless Claims on Thursday. Factory Orders planned and Construction Spending were among data missing from this week´s releases.

According to the notice on the Bureau of Labor Statistics website, updates “will start again when the Federal government resumes operations.” In case the situation remains unresolved, next week we might not see the numbers for Trade Balance (October 8), the Wholesale Inventories (October 9), the Import Price Index (October 10), the Producer Price Index (October 11).

Meanwhile, the Federal Reserves continues to publish data as well as conduct its borrowing and debt operations. Various Fed heads have given speeches through the week.