After a six-week delay due to the US government shutdown, the Bureau of Labor Statistics will release the September jobs report at 8:30 a.m. ET Thursday.
Wall Street economists expect the report to show modest job gains of around 50,000 positions, according to data from Bloomberg.
The report was initially scheduled for release on Oct. 3, but was delayed by the government shutdown that ran from Oct. 1 until Nov. 12.
August’s jobs report — the most recent official read on the state of the labor market — showed the unemployment rate stood at 4.3%. The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago estimates the unemployment rate inched up to 4.35% in September.
Data from private sources, which provided some insight during the shutdown, have suggested the labor market slowed in September, with payroll processor ADP reporting that the private sector shed 29,000 jobs during the month. Meanwhile, global outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas announced hiring plans were at their lowest since 2009.
Thursday’s release will be followed by another lengthy stretch without an official jobs report. The BLS announced on Wednesday that it will not publish the jobs report for October, citing its inability to adequately collect data during the shutdown. The November jobs report, originally scheduled for release on Dec. 5, will now be published on Dec. 16 and will contain what October data the agency was able to collect.
