Federal Reserve officials are heading into their next meeting with an incomplete picture of the labor market. The September jobs report is due Thursday.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics report, in the month of September the unemployment rate stayed roughly the same at 4.4 percent, translating to 7.6 million people. It’s a bump from one year prior, when the rate was 4.1 percent, or 6.9 million people.

More than 1.9 million Americans filed claims for unemployment benefits in mid-October, the highest mark since early August, according to data from the Department of Labor. For the week ending Oct.

Surveys were delayed and some cannot be collected at all, officials said, further complicating the Federal Reserve’s decision on interest rates next month.

The ripple effect from the recently ended government shutdown will continue to affect further employment data for the next several weeks.

The DOL report for the week ending Nov. 15 shows there was a sharp decrease in the number of first-time unemployment claims in the state. That figure came in at 4,981, down from the previous week’s figure of 5,833, a decrease of 852 claims. It’s one of the biggest drops in the last half-year, and it’s a reflection of the general trend in Florida.