PANews reported on October 1st, according to Jinshi, that the US federal government officially shut down at 12:01 AM Eastern Time on Wednesday, after Democrats and Republicans failed to reach an agreement on a short-term spending plan. The shutdown comes at a sensitive time for the US labor market: job growth stagnated throughout the summer. Due to the government data center's staff layoff, the September non-farm payroll report, originally scheduled for release this Friday, is likely to be delayed, depriving economists and investors of this crucial benchmark.