White House official: Some key U.S. economic data for October may be lost forever

Economists are concerned that key information about inflation and unemployment in the United States in October may be lost in a data "black hole", and they're right: White House officials say some key economic data may be lost forever. Hassett, one of President Trump's top economic advisers, said in an interview on Thursday that the unemployment rate for October will not be released due to the longest government shutdown in history, which would be the first time in 77 years that the data has not been released. Hassett, however, said the October job creation estimate would still be calculated - the exact opposite of White House Press Secretary Levitt's claim a day earlier that the jobs report might not be released at all. What remains unclear is whether the October Consumer Price Index (CPI) will be released. Levitt has hinted that the CPI report may not be released, but Hassett has not commented. (Jin Ten)