MNI: US DATA ADVISORY: BLS Guidance On Shutdown Impact On Data

     WASHINGTON (MNI) - The following is the text of a Bureau of Labor

Statistics web posting regarding the impact of the partial Federal Government

shutdown on BLS data:

     The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has received a number of

inquiries about the impact of the current partial government shutdown on our

data and release dates.

     The Department of Labor, including the Bureau of Labor Statistics, is

funded through September 30, 2019. BLS is operating as usual and expects to

follow its announced release schedule.

     Employment Situation

     The January 2019 Employment Situation will be published as scheduled on

February 1, 2019 at 8:30 a.m.

     Current Employment Statistics (Payroll survey):

     - The payroll survey is collected by BLS and collection of the data is not

affected by the partial federal government shutdown.

     - Reference period: the pay period that includes the 12th of the month.

     - Federal government employees who are working, but who will not be paid

until funding is made available, are included in employment counts.

     - Furloughed federal employees who are not working and who do not receive

pay for the entire pay period are not included in employment counts.

     - If legislation is passed that requires agencies to pay workers for what

they would have earned had there been no shutdown, then the workers will be

counted as employed.

     - Beyond federal government employees, any worker who did not work or

receive pay for the entire pay period, will not be included in the employment

counts.

     - Average weekly hours for the private sector employees may be impacted if

employees' work schedules are changed as a result of the shutdown.

     - Hours and earnings estimates are not available for the government sector.

     Current Population Survey (Household survey):

     - The U.S. Census Bureau collects data for the household survey for BLS.

This data collection activity is mostly funded by BLS and, at this time, is not

affected by the partial government shutdown. Therefore, data for January 2019

will be collected as scheduled.

     - Reference period: the calendar week that includes the 12th of the month

(January 6-12).

     - Federal government employees who are working, but who will not be paid

until funding is made available, should be classified as employed.

     - Furloughed federal employees who are not working for the entire reference

week should be classified as unemployed on temporary layoff (people on temporary

layoff need not be looking for work to be counted as unemployed).

     - Similar to federal employees, any other workers who are not working for

the entire reference week due to the partial federal government shutdown should

be classified as unemployed on temporary layoff. (People on temporary layoff

need not be looking for work to be counted as unemployed.)

     - Persons who worked at any point during the reference week, who usually

work full time but have had their workweek drop below 35 hours because of a

shutdown, should be classified as employed part time for economic reasons, due

to slack work/business conditions.

     Productivity and Costs

     BLS plans to issue the Productivity and Costs 4th Quarter, 2018, news

release as scheduled on February 6, 2019.

     If Gross Domestic Product (GDP) data are unavailable, the BLS productivity

release will contain fewer published measures than usual.

     Consumer Price Index

     BLS will issue the December 2018 news release as scheduled on January 11,

2018 at 8:30 am.

     The U.S. Census Bureau collects the CPI Telephone Point of Purchase Survey

(TPOPS) data for BLS (TPOPS is used to collect information about where consumers

purchase goods and services). This data collection activity is funded by BLS

and, at this time, is not significantly affected by the partial government

shutdown.

     Import and Export Price Indexes

     BLS will issue the U.S. Import and Export Price Indexes, December 2018,

news release as scheduled on January 16, 2019, at 8:30 a.m. Data used in these

indexes from the U.S. Department of Agriculture were posted prior to the start

of the shutdown.

     U.S. Import and Export Price Indexes, January 2019, news release will be

published as scheduled on February 15, 2019, at 8:30 a.m. If data collected by

the U.S. Department of Agriculture are not available in the first week of

February, publication of some export price indexes may be suppressed.

     Producer Price Index

     BLS will issues the January 2019 Producer Price Index (PPI) news release as

scheduled on February 14, 2019 at 8:30 a.m.

     The PPI uses data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Economic

Research Service and Agricultural Marketing Service. The former is currently

closed due to the shutdown; the latter is currently operating. Similarly, the

PPI uses data from the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Marine Fisheries

Service which also is currently closed. BLS expects that data from other sources

will permit the PPI to publish fully if these data providers continue to be

closed in February and beyond and that the accuracy and reliability of the

affected PPI indexes will not significantly diminish.

     American Time Use Survey

     The Census Bureau collects the American Time Use Survey data for BLS. This

data collection activity is funded by BLS and, at this time, is not

significantly affected by the partial government shutdown.

     Consumer Expenditure Survey

     The Census Bureau collects the Consumer Expenditure Survey data for BLS.

This data collection activity is funded by BLS and, at this time, is not

significantly affected by the partial government shutdown.

     This page will be updated as new information becomes available. BLS will

notify data users regarding any other data impacts or delayed releases.

--MNI Washington Bureau; tel: +1 202-371-2121; email: kevin.kastner@marketnews.com

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