The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is a unit of the

United States Department of Labor The United States Department of Labor (DOL) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It is responsible for the administration of federal laws governing occupational safety and health, wage and hour standards, unemploy ...

. It is the principal fact-finding agency for the U.S. government in the broad field of labor economics and statistics and serves as a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System. The BLS collects, processes, analyzes, and disseminates essential statistical data to the American public, the

U.S. Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washin ...

, other Federal agencies, State and local governments, business, and labor representatives. The BLS also serves as a statistical resource to the United States Department of Labor, and conducts research measuring the income levels families need to maintain a satisfactory quality of life. BLS data must satisfy a number of criteria, including relevance to current social and economic issues, timeliness in reflecting today's rapidly changing economic conditions, accuracy and consistently high statistical quality, impartiality in both subject matter and presentation, and accessibility to all. To avoid the appearance of partiality, the dates of major data releases are scheduled more than a year in advance, in coordination with the

Office of Management and Budget The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is the largest office within the Executive Office of the President of the United States (EOP). OMB's most prominent function is to produce the president's budget, but it also examines agency programs, pol ...

History

The Bureau of Labor was established within the Department of the Interior on June 27, 1884, to collect information about employment and labor. Its creation under the Bureau of Labor Act (23 Stat. 60) stemmed from the findings of U.S. Senator

Henry W. Blair Henry William Blair (December 6, 1834March 14, 1920) was a United States representative and Senator from New Hampshire. During the American Civil War, he was a Lieutenant Colonel in the Union Army. A Radical Republican in his earlier political ...

's "Labor and Capital Hearings," which examined labor issues and working conditions in the U.S. Statistician Carroll D. Wright became the first U.S. Commissioner of Labor in 1885, a position he held until 1905. The Bureau's placement within the federal government structure changed three times in the first 29 years following its formation. It was made an independent (sub-Cabinet) department by the Department of Labor Act (25 Stat. 182) on June 13, 1888. The Bureau was then incorporated into the

Department of Commerce and Labor The United States Department of Commerce and Labor was a short-lived Cabinet department of the United States government, which was concerned with fostering and supervising big business. Origins and establishment Calls in the United States for ...

by the Department of Commerce Act (32 Stat. 827) on February 14, 1903. Finally, it was transferred under the

Department of Labor The Ministry of Labour ('' UK''), or Labor ('' US''), also known as the Department of Labour, or Labor, is a government department responsible for setting labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workforce participation, training, a ...

in 1913 where it resides today. The BLS is now headquartered in the

Postal Square Building The Postal Square Building (formerly the City Post Office) served as the main post office for the city of Washington, D.C., from the building's completion in 1914 to 1986. It now houses the National Postal Museum, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, ...

near the

United States Capitol The United States Capitol, often called The Capitol or the Capitol Building, is the seat of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, which is formally known as the United States Congress. It is located on Capitol Hill ...

and

Union Station A union station (also known as a union terminal, a joint station in Europe, and a joint-use station in Japan) is a railway station at which the tracks and facilities are shared by two or more separate railway companies, allowing passengers to ...

. Since 1915, the BLS has published the ''

Monthly Labor Review The ''Monthly Labor Review'' (''MLR'') is published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is a unit of the United States Department of Labor. It is the principal fact-finding agency for the U.S. governmen ...

'', a journal focused on the data and methodologies of labor statistics. The BLS is headed by a commissioner who serves a four-year term from the date he or she takes office. The most recent Commissioner of Labor Statistics is William W. Beach, who was assumed office on March 28, 2019 Dr. William Beach was confirmed by the United States Senate on March 13, 2019
William Beach's Senate Confirmation

Erica Groshen Erica Lynn Groshen (born August 6, 1954) is the former Commissioner of Labor Statistics and head of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the independent, principal fact-finding agency for the U.S. government in the broad fields of labor e ...

, who was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on January 2, 2013 and sworn in as the 14th Commissioner of Labor Statistics on January 29, 2013, for a term that ended on January 27, 2017. William Wiatrowski, Deputy Commissioner of the BLS, was serving as Acting Commissioner until the next commissioner, William Beach was sworn in.

Past Commissioners

Statistical reporting

Statistics published by the BLS fall into four main categories:

Prices

* U.S. Consumer Price Index *

Producer Price Index A producer price index (PPI) is a price index that measures the average changes in prices received by domestic producers for their output. Its importance is being undermined by the steady decline in manufactured goods as a share of spending. ...

* U.S. Import and Export Price Indices *

Consumer Expenditure Survey The Consumer Expenditure Survey (CE or CEX) is a Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) household survey that collects information on the buying habits of U.S. consumers. The program consists of two components — the Interview Survey and the Dia ...

Employment and unemployment

Current Population Survey The Current Population Survey (CPS) is a monthly survey of about 60,000 U.S. households conducted by the United States Census Bureau for the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The BLS uses the data to publish reports early each month called the Em ...

(The "Household Survey") ** The

American Time Use Survey The American Time Use Survey (ATUS), sponsored by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and conducted by the United States Census Bureau (USCB), is a time-use survey which provides measures of the amounts of time people spend on various activities, i ...

* Current Employment Statistics (The "Establishment Survey") ** Payroll Employment **

JOLTS report The JOLTS report or Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey is a report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics measuring Employment, layoffs, job openings, and quits in the United States economy. The report is released monthly and usually a month ...

- Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey **

Economic geography Economic geography is the subfield of human geography which studies economic activity and factors affecting them. It can also be considered a subfield or method in economics. There are four branches of economic geography. There is, primary secto ...

** Salary Data * Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) **

List of U.S. states by unemployment rate The list of U.S. states and territories by unemployment rate compares the seasonally adjusted unemployment rates by state and territory, sortable by name, rate, and change. Data are provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics in its ''Geographic Pr ...

* Current Employment Statistics State and Area program * The

Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey The JOLTS report or Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey is a report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics measuring Employment, layoffs, job openings, and quits in the United States economy. The report is released monthly and usually a month ...

(JOLTS) * The Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) * The Business Employment Dynamics (BED) program * Ten year occupational employment projections *

Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics The Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics) (OEWS) survey is a semi-annual survey of approximately 200,000 non-farm business establishments conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), headquartered in Washington, DC with six regional off ...

, called OES until recently * Mass Layoff Statistics--discontinued in 2013

Compensation and working conditions

* National Compensation Survey ** Employment Cost Index *

Workplace Injury and Fatality Statistics A workplace is a location where someone works, for their employer or themselves, a place of employment. Such a place can range from a home office to a large office building or factory. For industrialized societies, the workplace is one of the ...

Productivity

Labor productivity Workforce productivity is the amount of goods and services that a group of workers produce in a given amount of time. It is one of several types of productivity that economists measure. Workforce productivity, often referred to as labor product ...

, aggregate and by industry *

Multifactor productivity In economics, total-factor productivity (TFP), also called multi-factor productivity, is usually measured as the ratio of aggregate output (e.g., GDP) to aggregate inputs. Under some simplifying assumptions about the production technology, growt ...

* State labor productivity

Statistical regions

Data produced by the BLS is often categorized into groups of states known as Census Regions. There are 4 Census Regions, which are further categorized by Census Division as follows: Northeast Region * New England Division: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. * Middle Atlantic Division: New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. South Region * South Atlantic Division: Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia. * East South Central Division: Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Tennessee. * West South Central Division: Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas. Midwest Region * East North Central Division: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin. * West North Central Division: Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota. West Region * Mountain Division: Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming. * Pacific Division: Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon, and Washington.

Footnotes

External links

*
Records of the Bureau of Labor Statistics in the National Archives (Record Group 257)

Bureau of Labor Statistics
in the Federal Register
Publications of the BLS
available on

FRASER Fraser may refer to: Places Antarctica * Fraser Point, South Orkney Islands Australia * Fraser, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb in the Canberra district of Belconnen * Division of Fraser (Australian Capital Territory), a former federal e ...

Bulletins of the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics
dating back to 1895
Local Area Unemployment Reports
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bureau Of Labor Statistics 1884 establishments in the United States Federal Statistical System of the United States National statistical services Official statistics Statistical organizations in the United States Unemployment in the United States