The US Department of Labor has announced that it will not be reporting job statistics for the month of October. This is because certain statistics, such as unemployment figures, have not been able to be collected retroactively, and the October statistics will therefore be combined with the November figures, which are in turn scheduled to be published on December 16.
The monthly figures regarding how many new jobs were created are usually considered an extremely important factor in how the US central bank, the Federal Reserve, will act regarding future interest rate decisions.
However, the previous shutdown of the US government has affected the ability to report statistics, and figures for the month of September will only be available this Friday.
The announcement causes the New York Stock Exchange to retreat.
