00:00The U.S. government is almost at a standstill after Democrats and Republicans failed to come to an agreement over the spending package for the new fiscal year.
00:10The shutdown has caused a freeze in some critical federal programs.
00:14Amongst the biggest losers have been investors and policymakers who rely on key economic data from government agencies.
00:22The Labor Department releasing a contingency memo ahead of the funding lapse, saying if a deal between Congress and President Trump was not reached by October 1st, the Bureau of Labor Statistics will be suspending operations, which means no job report, a key record of the changes in employment and unemployment for more than 160 million Americans.
00:45The data dogs are howling because, you know, we're not getting our usual supply of information.
00:53I will say I consider the Bureau of Labor Statistics job data to be the absolutely best.
01:01If the shutdown continues, at risk, weekly jobless claims, monthly retail sales, the Consumer Price Index and the Producer Price Index, those reports providing an important measure of inflation.
01:15Over at the Federal Reserve, data is crucial after the Federal Open Market Committee voted in September to lower interest rates a quarter of a percentage point.
01:25But without economic data on the jobs market and prices, it leaves the central bank without possible benchmarks to make a precise and informed decision about the future.
01:35And whether or not we remain in a government shutdown, the Federal Reserve will still meet.
01:41And that's scheduled for October 28th and 29th.
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