Official figures on the evolution of prices and the labor market in October in the United States may never be published, due to budget paralysis that led to the suspension of data collection, the White House complained on Wednesday, November 12.
“Democrats may have done permanent damage to the federal statistical system, with the October Consumer Prices (CPI) and Employment Reports likely never to be released”executive spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said at a news conference. Initially, employment figures would be published on November 7 and CPI this Thursday.
“All this economic data will be permanently damaged, leaving our monetary policy makers at the Fed (Federal Reserve, central bank of the United States) in the dark at a crucial moment”the spokesperson added, without elaborating on the fate of another inflation index, the PCE, which is expected on November 26.
The longest shutdown in US history, which began on 1uh It’s October and seems to be coming to an end, forcing many federal civil servants, especially those responsible for key economic indicators, to take forced leave.
Experts expect gaps in the statistics, and attempting to collect these elements retrospectively would result in a significant margin of error. This makes it difficult to understand the country with the largest economy in the world, because the country is shaken by the protectionist policies launched by President Donald Trump.
The latest official data on the labor market shows that job creation has almost stalled, while import duties have not led to price increases as large as feared.
