Scott Horsley

Scott Horsley, NPR News, Washington.

Timely reports on inflation and the job market were disrupted this fall by the six-week government shutdown.

But some of that information will come dribbling out this week.

The Labor Department reports tomorrow on job gains for October and November.

We'll also get a look at November's inflation rate on Thursday.

Some of the missing data will not be made up, though.

Furloughed federal workers were unable to conduct price checks or tally the unemployment rate for October.

So for the first time, there will be gaps in those long-running series.

The maker of Roomba, the self-driving vacuum cleaner, is filing for bankruptcy.

The company called iRobot will be sucked up by its main contract manufacturer.

Scott Horsley, NPR News, Washington.

The U.S.

trade gap narrowed by almost 11 percent during September.

Exports and imports both increased during the month, but exports jumped more.

New applications for unemployment benefits rose sharply last week after a Thanksgiving lull the week before.

236,000 people applied for jobless aid.

The number of applications can be useful in assessing the pace of layoffs.

Stock in Oracle tumbled after the cloud computing giant reported disappointing earnings.

Oracle's been investing heavily in artificial intelligence.

Despite the dip, co-founder Larry Ellison is still a very wealthy man.