If the government were not shut down, we would have received the latest official report today

on jobs and unemployment. Instead, it's the second straight missing report, leaving employers,

workers and policymakers trying to understand the labor picture without crucial data. One thing seems

clear. The labor market may not be cratering, but it doesn't look very strong. This week, one

private report found 42,000 new jobs were created last month, then a separate report found

that more than 150,000 jobs were cut in October, the highest in over two decades, and tied

in part to the AI boom. Paul Salman has been looking into the most recent

official unemployment numbers and questions

over whether the government's own measurements are outdated.

Joe Biden.

I know someone to see a larger number today, and so did I.

George W. Bush.

The fundamentals are strong.

We're just in a rough patch.

Barack Obama. It's a reminder that we're still in a rough patch. Barack Obama.

It's a reminder that we're still in the middle of a very deep recession.

Donald Trump is not the first recent president vexed by a dreary number of jobs created,

but he is the first to declare war on the data.

We're doing so well, I believe the numbers were phonyed. So you know what I did? I fired her.

And you know what? I did the right thing.

Which her? Erica McIntarfer, then commissioner of the BLS, the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

In August, hours after a BLS report showing slow job growth and large downward revisions for previous months, Trump

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