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The release of the preliminary revision of U.S. nonfarm payrolls data on Wednesday morning local time was more than half an hour late, causing market volatility and confusing traders.

According to Bloomberg, as the world was eagerly awaiting the data, at least three banks found ways to get this key data.

After the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics failed to release its initial benchmark revision of nonfarm payrolls as planned at 10 a.m. New York time, Mizuho Financial Group and BNP Paribas SA both called the department and got the numbers directly. So did Nomura Holdings Inc.’s economic research team, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Word of the BLS releasing the numbers to some companies over the phone spread among traders, and anger quickly spread on Wall Street.

The data was finally released after 10:30 a.m. The revision showed nonfarm payrolls for the year to March were likely revised down by 818,000, or about 68,000 a month on a pro rata basis. It was also the largest downward revision since 2009. U.S. stocks and bonds rose in response as the report fueled bets that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates starting next month.

“No wonder people are angry,” said Nancy Tengler, chief executive of Laffer Tengler Investments. “The whole thing reeks of incompetence.”

The Labor Department data is crucial for traders trying to gauge inflation and the economy, and the delayed and separate disclosure is the latest in a series of embarrassing missteps.

In May, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics inadvertently released the Consumer Price Index (CPI) 30 minutes early. Earlier in April, an economist from the bureau answered many questions from major Wall Street companies such as JPMorgan Chase and BlackRock in detail about data related to major inflation indicators, raising questions about the fairness of access to economic information.

A Nomura spokesperson declined to comment as of press time. A BLS spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Yelena Shulyatyeva, senior U.S. economist at BNP Paribas, said she kept refreshing the page when the data didn’t appear on time. Then “we called the public number a few times and they gave us the data,” she said.

Steven Ricchiuto, chief U.S. economist at Mizuho, ​​did the same thing. "Knowing that the data was delayed, we had to call and get the number, and then it appeared on their website."

The data was released publicly and trading was sizzling. Between 10:30 a.m. and 10:35 a.m., when the Bureau of Labor Statistics finally released the data, about 2,000 S&P 500 futures contracts changed hands, up 58% from the previous five-minute increment. The S&P 500 rose and then fell, while bonds continued to extend their gains.

"I'm more than a little annoyed," said Troy Ludtka, senior U.S. economist at SMBC Nikko Securities Americas, who is among those waiting for the release of the public data.

“To put it in the kindest terms: a government agency should not selectively release critical, market-moving information to some agents and brokers over the phone while leaving others in the dark,” he said. “It undermines the very idea of ​​a balanced market based on fairness and access to information.”