Labor Dept. May Not Release Jobs Report Before Election Day

There is one more jobs report due before Election Day. It is scheduled to be released this Friday, giving the candidates about four days to play up or dismiss the numbers. However, the Labor Department says it may not release the report on time... citing difficulties due to Hurricane Sandy.
As noted in the Wall Street Journal, the Labor Department "has yet to make a decision on whether to delay Friday's closely-watched October employment report due to the effects from Hurricane Sandy."

Federal government offices in Washington are closed Monday and may be shut again Tuesday due to the storm. It isn't clear if the closure would cause a delay in processing the data.
"We will assess the situation when the weather emergency is over and notify the press and public of any changes at that time," said Gary Steinberg, spokesman for the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the data arm of the department.
The Labor Department is also scheduled to release its third quarter employment cost index Wednesday, and the third quarter productivity and weekly jobless claims reports Thursday.

Last month's report showed the unemployment rate at 7.8% with even more people stopping their search for work or taking part-time employment.

Read more: http://www.gopusa.com/freshink/2012/10/29/labor-dept-may-not-release-jobs-report-before-election-day/?subscriber=1