The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) will not release the January employment report as scheduled on Friday because of the partial government shutdown, delaying one of the most closely watched indicators of the United States labour market.
“The Employment Situation release for January 2026 will not be released as scheduled on Friday, February 6, 2026. The release will be rescheduled upon the resumption of government funding,” Emily Liddel, associate commissioner of the BLS, said in a statement.
The delay comes at a critical juncture for investors and policymakers, who had been looking to the nonfarm payrolls report for fresh insight into hiring momentum, wage trends and the broader health of the economy.
The employment situation report includes the headline nonfarm payrolls figure, which measures how many workers businesses added during the month, alongside data from a household survey used to calculate the unemployment rate.
Market expectations had centred on an increase of 70,000 jobs in January, with the unemployment rate projected to hold steady at 4.4%.
Without the report, traders and economists will be left with a significant gap in the week’s data flow, complicating assessments of labour market conditions and the outlook for monetary policy.
The BLS disruption follows a record government shutdown last year that extended into early November, which also forced the bureau to delay a number of routine statistical releases.
The agency had only recently been catching up from that period of disruption. In addition to the employment report, the BLS is responsible for a wide range of key economic indicators, including the consumer price index, import and export price data, and multiple labour- and consumer-related series.
It remains unclear whether other departments will face similar reporting delays. The Commerce Department, which publishes data such as retail sales and gross domestic product, could also be affected if the funding impasse in Washington continues.
The postponement lands during what had been shaping up as a busy week for U.S. economic releases. Alongside the employment report, the BLS had been scheduled to publish the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey on Tuesday, another dataset closely monitored for signs of labour market tightness.
The federal government entered a partial shutdown on Saturday after Congress failed to agree on a new spending plan before the deadline.
Funding for the Department of Homeland Security emerged as one of the key sticking points in negotiations, following political tensions over its efforts to address illegal immigration.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said over the weekend that he expected the standoff could be resolved by Tuesday, raising the possibility that data releases may resume once government funding is restored.
