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Will the recent government shutdown show up in the jobs report?

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics will release its January jobs report on Friday.

Recruiting companies are removing race and gender from résumés to eliminate bias.
Recruiting companies are removing race and gender from résumés to eliminate bias.
John Moore/Getty Images

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics will release its January jobs report at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time on Friday, Feb. 1. Here’s what you need to know:

  • The consensus is for 158,000 jobs to be added to the economy, compared to 312,000 jobs in December; unemployment holding at 3.9 percent; and average hourly earnings to be up 3.2 percent year over year

  • The 800,000 federal employees who were working without pay, or not working at all, will not be counted as unemployed

  • Furloughed workers might have identified as “absent” or “not in the labor force,” two categories that do not add to the unemployment rate

  • Some federal employees found other work

  • Bottom line: The shutdown might barely show in the jobs report

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