WASHINGTON--Federal government offices are opening with a
two-hour delay Friday because of winter weather. As a result, the
government will cancel the planned media release of economic
data.
Instead, the Labor Department's February jobs report and the
Commerce Department's January trade data will be released on agency
websites at 8:30 a.m. EST.
This change could slightly delay the reporting of the data.
Typically for these and other reports, the government shares the
data with media organizations, including Dow Jones Newswires,
shortly before the public release. These closed briefings, called
lockups, allow reporters to prepare headlines and stories to be
released concurrently with the public disclosure of the data.
Friday's lockups, which would have been held at the Labor
Department, have been canceled.
Write to Eric Morath at eric.morath@wsj.com
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