Odaily Planet Daily reported that the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics has just released a contingency plan for a government shutdown, which will suspend all operations and not release economic data during the shutdown. Currently, U.S. lawmakers are leaning towards forcing the federal government to shut down, which could prevent policymakers, business leaders, and investors from obtaining key data needed to assess the state of the U.S. economy. Stephen Stanley, chief economist at Santander U.S. Capital Markets, said that the next Federal Reserve meeting will be held on October 28-29, and without the latest government data, it would be difficult to justify another interest rate cut. Some officials are already cautious about this and hope to see more data. Neil Bradley, chief policy officer of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said that the government shutdown will not push the U.S. economy into a recession, but it will come at a cost and increase the uncertainty that businesses and business leaders are already dealing with. (Golden Ten)