The monthly release of inflation data is typically routine and uncontroversial for governments around the world, but not for the U.S. right now.

Official numbers, expected to be released more than a week ago, are now set for release on Friday, Oct. 25, delayed due to the ongoing U.S. federal government shutdown. This, while a huge amount of other data critical to understanding the economy, isn’t being published at all.

And that has important consequences, as Owen Fairclough explains.