A large US flag is seen on the facade of the Department of Labor headquarters building in Washington DC, United States on September 8, 2025.
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The Labor Department will bring back staff to work on a key consumer inflation report despite the ongoing federal government shutdown, CNBC has learned.
The department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics will “promptly resume” work on September’s Consumer Price Index data, a White House official said. The CPI report, which was originally scheduled for release on Oct. 15, is a well-known gauge of U.S. inflation that tracks a broad basket of goods and services for price changes over time.
The department had originally paused work on the CPI report due to its shutdown plan, the official said. But the Social Security Agency needs third-quarter CPI data for calculating and publishing annual cost-of-living adjustments before Nov. 1.
Other BLS data releases including the nonfarm payroll report haven’t been published as originally intended since the federal government shutdown due to a lapse in funding. The Senate on Thursday failed to pass funding bills for the seventh time that would have ended the closure, which began last week.
Bloomberg News first reported that the BLS was calling employees back to work on CPI data.
— CNBC’s Steve Liesman contributed to this report.
