The federal government isn't publishing any numbers until further notice, according to reports across several ".gov" websites. The government shutdown is affecting Americans in a variety of ways, and this lack of information puts markets at a loss for many macroeconomic indicators.
Census.gov presented the following message on its home page: "Due to the lapse in government funding, census.gov sites, services, and all online survey collection requests will be unavailable until further notice."
The Bureau of Labor Statistics struck a similar tone: "This website is currently not being updated due to the suspension of Federal government services."
For Monday, the only report of note due out was one on construction spending, which hit surprisingly high growth numbers for July. If the lack of access lasts through Thursday, analysts might be left in the dark as to whether initial jobless claims continued their drop from last week's lowest number in six years, since the report is usually published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. For the time being, much of the true effect of the government shutdown on the nation and its economy is still unknown.
