Critical information on U.S. inflation and unemployment for October might disappear in a data “black hole,” economists worry, and they could be right: White House officials say some key economic figures may be lost forever.

After a record shutdown delay, the September jobs report shows unemployment up to 4.4%, job growth below norms, and pay rising faster than inflation.

The Labor Department said Wednesday that it will not be releasing a full jobs report for October because the 43-day federal government shutdown meant it couldn’t calculate the unemployment rate and so