Many U.S. Census Bureau databases appeared to be unpublished to the public on Thursday, and users were notified that they were “banned” when they attempted to download a general dataset.
Several data experts told CNBC that they receive the same error message on files that are available on a daily basis.
“My staff tried a lot of financial releases, but they weren’t accessible through Census.gov,” said Maurine Haver, founder of Haver Analytics. The company is a leading global data provider, including CNBC.
Data experts were able to download several files from various workarounds.
Some of the datasets that CNBC was not available late Thursday include information on voter demographics and population changes by states and small businesses.
Economists were concerned that it could have broader meaning.
“When was the last time the census stopped publishing data? That’s not going to happen,” said Michael Holligan, president of the We Upjohn Employment Institute. Two data experts at the institute were also unable to download the data from Census.gov.
“It suggests that there may be internal pressure to not publish the data we rely on, and we need to know if that’s true,” Holligan said.
Some databases were still publicly accessible. It is unclear whether the limited data is due to technical issues or whether it is part of the change in information and communications under President Donald Trump.
Erica Grossen, former chairman of the Obama administration’s U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, said census data is essential for decision-making across governments and businesses.
“Money, fiscal and investment decisions all get worse if data quality is reduced, reporting delayed or not present,” Groshen told CNBC.
The Census Bureau did not respond to CNBC’s request for comment Thursday afternoon.
The Census Bureau website is one of several government webpages that temporarily blew last Friday following a White House order to remove certain languages about diversity, equity and inclusion. It was.
