Key economic reports for October may not be released at all because of the government shutdown, a senior White House official said Wednesday.

With the spending impasse appearing to be near an end, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that part of the fallout could be lasting damage to the government’s data collection ability.

“The Democrats may have permanently damaged the Federal Statistical system with October CPI and jobs reports likely never being released,” Leavitt said. “All of that economic data released will be permanently impaired, leaving our policymakers at the Fed, flying blind at a critical period.”

Release of important economic data has been at the forefront of Wall Street concerns as the shutdown dragged on for more than six weeks, the longest in history. (CNBC – Continue Reading)

The U.S. House of Representatives will vote early Wednesday evening to end the longest government shutdown in history, Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., said.

“We’ll start the process probably around 4, 5 o’clock. The actual vote on the bill to fund the government will probably come later, around 7 o’clock,” the House majority leader told CNBC. “There’ll be, I’m sure, a good, thorough debate, but it’s so important that this gets done.”

If the spending bill gets through as planned, it will end an impasse that has lasted more than six weeks, resulting in furloughs for government workers, the closing of all federal government activities, the suspension of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and increased delays at airports heading into the holiday travel season. (CNBC – Continue Reading)

Fitch Ratings expects the U.S. residential housing economy to slow to 1.1% in 2025 from 2.0% in 2024 as intensifying cost pressures from higher tariffs, tighter construction labour supply, and weaker consumer and homebuilder sentiment weigh on consumption growth and residential investment. The latest U.S. Cross-Sector Housing Monitor provides an update on key indicators for the housing economy, encompassing spending on housing-related goods and services plus residential investment, which together represent about 17% of U.S. GDP.

Supply broadly remains tight, but demand indicators are weakening. New home inventory has declined slightly, while existing home inventory continues to improve, helped by declining mortgage rates that should spur turnover and demand. Fitch expects 30-year mortgage rates to end 2025 at 6.25% and decline further to 5.8% in 2026, driven by Fed policy rate cuts and a narrower spread between 10-year Treasury yields and 10-year Treasury bonds. (Fitch – Continue Reading)