The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has canceled the release of the October Consumer Price Index (CPI) report, citing incomplete data collection during the government shutdown, which cannot be retroactively compiled.

The BLS stated it still gathered partial price data for the month and will include October figures in the November CPI report "where possible." The November CPI report is now scheduled for release on December 18, following the Federal Reserve's final policy meeting of the year.

This announcement comes shortly after the BLS canceled the October jobs report due to similar data collection issues. Economists had previously warned that the CPI—heavily reliant on labor-intensive surveys—was among the most likely reports to be scrapped. The BLS noted that most non-survey data can still be collected retroactively.

Emily Liddel, Deputy Commissioner of the BLS Office of Publications and Special Studies, stated via email:

"The number of indexes based solely on non-survey data is very limited. No overall CPI or core CPI will be published for October 2025."

This marks the first time in decades—based on news archives dating back to 1994—that the agency has abandoned a monthly CPI release. The White House earlier this month indicated that October's jobs and CPI reports would "most likely never" be published.

According to the BLS, the November report will exclude month-over-month percentage changes for items missing October data.

As a key U.S. inflation gauge affecting over 100 million Americans' incomes, the CPI primarily relies on field agents collecting prices for thousands of goods at retail stores and service providers nationwide—accounting for roughly 60% of the sample. The remaining prices are gathered via phone, online, and third-party sources.

Although no data collectors worked during the shutdown, BLS staff were recalled last month to compile and release September's CPI report, enabling the Social Security Administration to calculate annual cost-of-living adjustments (COLA).

Even before the shutdown, the BLS faced staffing shortages, forcing it to suspend portions of CPI sample collection in recent months and increasingly rely on estimation methods to fill gaps. The agency has operated without a permanent commissioner since President Trump dismissed the last BLS chief in August, with one-third of senior leadership positions vacant for months.