The Trump administration is disappearing data — to our detriment

Among the federal employees sent home during the ongoing government shutdown was the entire team at the Bureau of Labor Statistics that produces inflation estimates. Those estimates, in turn, drive the annual cost-of-living adjustment for Social Security, which sets the benefit rates for the coming year.

The Trump administration, perhaps in acknowledgment of the potential backlash of leaving more than 70 million Social Security recipients in limbo, announced the BLS team will return to produce its report on Friday, Oct. 24, so that the 2026 cost-of-living increase can be announced the same day.