White House says inflation data unlikely to be released next month

 The White House said on Friday there likely will not be a release of inflation data next month due to the US government shutdown.

Because of Congress' failure to pass a stopgap funding bill, "Surveyors cannot deploy to the field - depriving us of critical data," the White House said on its official Twitter account. "The economic consequences could be devastating."

The standoff between Republicans and Democrats over stopgap funding legislation was in its 24th day on Friday.

About 700,000 federal workers have been furloughed while nearly as many are working without pay, which could force households to defer spending. Many are set to miss their first full paycheck on Friday.

The government's Consumer Price Index report for September was published on Friday despite an economic data blackout because of the shutdown in order to help the Social Security Administration calculate its 2026 cost-of-living adjustment for millions of retirees and other benefits recipients. It was initially due on October 15.