Economic Reports During Shutdown

    Budget Battle

    It’s one of the great unknowns of the shutdown. Without reports from the federal government, no one is sure just how well or how bad the economy is doing.

    FOX News Radio’s Jill Nado reports from Washington:

    Unemployment, manufacturing, construction — they may all be up or down, and we wouldn’t know about it. It’s a frustrating time to be an economist.

    (Hersh) “So many changes are happening right now, it’d be great to have those back online.”

    Adam Hersh of the Center for American Progress says he’s been filling his days trying to analyze any reliable data he can find while Mike Strain of the American Enterprise Institute says he’s feeling like he’s blinded.

    (Strain) “It’s been a challenge across, you know, many dimensions.”

    Strain says he’s especially frustrated because he can’t even reach archived material on many government websites, because so many of those are shut down, too.

    In Washington, Jill Nado, FOX News Radio.