U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Halts Operations During Shutdown

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics will suspend economic data releases, including the jobs report, due to a government shutdown starting October 1, 2025. This halt affects critical macroeconomic indicators, potentially increasing market volatility and reliance on private data sources.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics announced it would suspend operations and halt data releases during the U.S. government shutdown starting October 1, 2025.

This suspension signifies significant disruptions in the dissemination of crucial economic indicators, leading to increased reliance on alternative datasets and potential market volatility.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, part of the Department of Labor, will suspend operations during the government shutdown. This stoppage marks a disruption in data collection activities essential for economic analysis. The decision resulted from a lapse in federal funding. Only one staff member remains active, while nearly 13,000 Department of Labor employees face furloughs. During this period, BLS data, such as NFP and CPI, won't be released. As a result, financial markets may experience disruptions due to unavailable official data.

"They will suspend all operations. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and cease all active data collection activity. Should the federal government shut down...only one of those employees would remain at work in the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Wow. So in terms of data collection, it’s going to be a major problem that we could end up seeing some pretty choppy labor surveys, especially for October if the shutdown continues through the reference week." — Bloomberg Analyst, Bloomberg

Cryptocurrency and traditional markets are bracing for volatility as they lose access to trusted data. This uncertainty is expected to affect BTC, ETH, and other liquid altcoins, potentially increasing market swings due to lack of clarity in economic data. Private sector data becomes crucial as an alternative, with emphasis shifting to ADP data and other non‑government sources. Additionally, the Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED) warns that certain data updates could be interrupted, impacting decision‑making for traders and analysts.

Market analysts highlight that economic indicators' absence could exacerbate uncertainty in DeFi TVL and asset flows. Without official signals, traders rely on alternative models and historical precedents. Future economic and regulatory outcomes may hinge heavily on these alternative datasets and forecasts, posing potential challenges for stakeholders. These disruptions underline the necessity of diverse data sources for maintaining analytics continuity during a government shutdown.