Federal jobs numbers will not be released if the government shuts down at midnight Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Labor said. It's a much-anticipated report.

If the federal government shuts down on Wednesday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics won't release this week's jobs report, which is expected Friday. File Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI UPI

Sept. 29 (UPI) -- Federal jobs numbers will not be released if the government shuts down at midnight Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Labor said.

In a release of plans for a government shutdown, the Labor Department said: "[The Bureau of Labor Statistics] will suspend all operations. Economic data that are scheduled to be released during the lapse will not be released. All active data collection activities for BLS surveys will cease. The BLS website will not be updated with new content or restored in the event of a technical failure during a lapse."

The plans were dated Friday and posted on the DOL website.

The BLS September jobs report was scheduled to be released Friday. Economists have been waiting for that data to monitor the economy for an economic downturn.

Friday's jobs figures are usually complete earlier in the week and could still be published, Betsey Stevenson, former chief economist for the DOL in 2010 and 2011, told the Washington Post. Stevenson is now at the University of Michigan. She said data collection isn't considered so necessary that it must continue even if the government is shut down.

The DOL is scheduled to release the consumer price index on Oct. 15. It's an important indicator of inflation, and it's the last one before the Federal Reserve meets on Oct. 28-29.

The Fed cut interest rates by a quarter of a percent on Sept. 17.

"A lot of economic data can't be released during shutdowns," Callie Cox, chief market strategist at Ritholtz Wealth Management, wrote in an analysis.

"This is a big deal for our interest-rate superheroes (the Federal Reserve), who preach about how they like to make decisions based on economic data. You, me and Fed chair Jay [Jerome] Powell are all flying blind without these crucial reports," she wrote.

The last shutdown was in 2018 and lasted for 34 days, the longest.

Cox said the stock market is especially vulnerable to shocks right now.

"A shutdown would be another shock to absorb, and it's tough to say how well investors will absorb it. I'd feel better about the shock absorption part if the economy were in a better spot, and this catalyst were a little more defined," she wrote.

President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he would fire -- not just furlough -- many government workers if there is a shutdown, which would add to the jobless rate.

Trump plans to meet with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., ahead of the Oct. 1 deadline, the two announced Sunday. The president canceled a similar meeting on Tuesday.