
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics announced on Wednesday that the release of the January employment report, which was postponed due to a brief government shutdown, will now take place next week.
According to the agency’s updated calendar, the highly anticipated jobs report is scheduled for February 11, five days later than originally planned. The delay reflects disruptions caused by the temporary federal funding lapse earlier this year.
In a related adjustment, the Bureau of Labor Statistics will also publish the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey on Thursday. This report had initially been set for release on Tuesday but was rescheduled as part of the broader shift in data publication timelines.
Other key economic indicators have been pushed back as well. The January consumer price index, an important measure of inflation, will now be released on February 13, two days later than its original date. A separate report on real earnings, which adjusts wages for inflation, will be delayed by the same amount of time.
Economists surveyed by Dow Jones project that the nonfarm payroll report will show an increase of about 60,000 jobs in January, slightly higher than December’s gain of 50,000 jobs. Analysts also expect the national unemployment rate to remain unchanged at 4.4 percent.
Earlier on Wednesday, payroll processing firm ADP reported that private employers added only 22,000 jobs in January, a figure that came in well below many forecasts and raised questions about the pace of labor market growth at the start of the year.