Don’t expect any new statistics on our state or county-level employment this month.

The Washington State Employment Security Department says that due to the federal government shutdown, it will be not be able to release its next batch of monthly job reports on time.

Sheryl Hutchison, the department’s communications director, said via email that state officials cannot get necessary employment data from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, which remains closed. Also, nearly all of the state Employment Security Department’s labor-market analysts have been furloughed, due to a cut off of federal funding that supports their work, Hutchison said.

The next scheduled report from the department was due to be released on Oct. 16, and was to include data on the statewide employment picture. County-level reports were due to be released on Oct. 22.

Hutchison said state officials must wait until the federal office re-opens before determining when reports can resume.

Evan Marczynski, staff reporter for The Bellingham Business Journal, can be reached at 360-647-8805, Ext. 5052, or evan@bbjtoday.com.