Bureau of Labor Statistics Time Series API

openapi: 3.1.0
info:
  title: BLS Public Data Popular Series Time Series API
  description: 'The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Public Data API allows developers to retrieve published historical time series data from all BLS surveys. Version 2 requires a free API registration key and provides higher query limits: up to 500 daily queries, 50 series per request, and 20 years of data. The API covers Consumer Price Index (CPI), employment and unemployment statistics, wages, productivity, industry employment, and occupational statistics.'
  version: '2.0'
  contact:
    name: BLS Developer Support
    url: https://www.bls.gov/developers/home.htm
    email: data_staff@bls.gov
  termsOfService: https://www.bls.gov/developers/termsOfService.htm
  license:
    name: Public Domain
    url: https://www.bls.gov/developers/termsOfService.htm
servers:
- url: https://api.bls.gov/publicAPI/v2
  description: BLS Public Data API v2 (requires registration key)
- url: https://api.bls.gov/publicAPI/v1
  description: BLS Public Data API v1 (no registration required)
tags:
- name: Time Series
  description: Retrieve time series data for BLS statistical series
paths:
  /timeseries/data/:
    post:
      operationId: getMultipleTimeSeries
      summary: Get Multiple Time Series Data
      description: Retrieve time series data for one or more BLS series IDs. Version 2 supports up to 50 series per request, date range filtering, optional calculations (net change, percent change), annual averages, and catalog descriptions. Requires a registered API key in the request body.
      tags:
      - Time Series
      requestBody:
        required: true
        content:
          application/json:
            schema:
              $ref: '#/components/schemas/TimeSeriesRequest'
            examples:
              single-series:
                summary: Single Series Request
                value:
                  seriesid:
                  - LNS14000000
                  startyear: '2020'
                  endyear: '2024'
                  registrationkey: YOUR_API_KEY
              multi-series:
                summary: Multiple Series with Calculations
                value:
                  seriesid:
                  - LNS14000000
                  - CUUR0000SA0
                  - CES0000000001
                  startyear: '2022'
                  endyear: '2024'
                  catalog: true
                  calculations: true
                  annualaverage: true
                  registrationkey: YOUR_API_KEY
      responses:
        '200':
          description: Successful time series data response
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/TimeSeriesResponse'
              example:
                status: REQUEST_SUCCEEDED
                responseTime: 78
                message: []
                Results:
                  series:
                  - seriesID: LNS14000000
                    catalog:
                      series_title: Unemployment Rate
                      series_id: LNS14000000
                      seasonality: Seasonally Adjusted
                      survey_name: Current Population Survey
                      measure_data_type: Percent
                    data:
                    - year: '2024'
                      period: M01
                      periodName: January
                      value: '3.7'
                      footnotes:
                      - code: P
                        text: Preliminary
        '400':
          description: Bad request - invalid parameters
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/ErrorResponse'
        '429':
          description: Rate limit exceeded
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/ErrorResponse'
  /timeseries/data/{seriesId}:
    get:
      operationId: getSingleTimeSeries
      summary: Get Single Time Series Data
      description: Retrieve time series data for a single BLS series ID using a GET request. This endpoint works with both v1 and v2. For v2, include the registration key as a query parameter for higher limits.
      tags:
      - Time Series
      parameters:
      - name: seriesId
        in: path
        required: true
        description: The BLS series identifier (e.g., LNS14000000 for national unemployment rate, CUUR0000SA0 for CPI-U All Items)
        schema:
          type: string
          pattern: ^[A-Z]{2,4}[0-9A-Z]{6,18}$
        example: LNS14000000
      - name: registrationkey
        in: query
        required: false
        description: Your registered BLS API key (required for v2 higher limits)
        schema:
          type: string
      - name: startyear
        in: query
        required: false
        description: Beginning year for data range (4-digit year)
        schema:
          type: string
          pattern: ^\d{4}$
        example: '2020'
      - name: endyear
        in: query
        required: false
        description: Ending year for data range (4-digit year)
        schema:
          type: string
          pattern: ^\d{4}$
        example: '2024'
      - name: catalog
        in: query
        required: false
        description: Include series catalog/description information in response (v2 only)
        schema:
          type: boolean
      - name: calculations
        in: query
        required: false
        description: Include net change and percent change calculations (v2 only)
        schema:
          type: boolean
      - name: annualaverage
        in: query
        required: false
        description: Include annual average values (v2 only)
        schema:
          type: boolean
      responses:
        '200':
          description: Successful time series data response
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/TimeSeriesResponse'
        '400':
          description: Bad request
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/ErrorResponse'
        '404':
          description: Series not found
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/ErrorResponse'
components:
  schemas:
    DataPoint:
      type: object
      properties:
        year:
          type: string
          description: The year of the data observation
          example: '2024'
        period:
          type: string
          description: The period code (M01-M12 for monthly, Q01-Q04 quarterly, A01 annual)
          example: M01
        periodName:
          type: string
          description: Human-readable period name
          example: January
        value:
          type: string
          description: The statistical value for this data point
          example: '3.7'
        footnotes:
          type: array
          items:
            $ref: '#/components/schemas/Footnote'
        calculations:
          $ref: '#/components/schemas/Calculations'
        aspects:
          type: array
          items:
            type: object
            additionalProperties: true
    SeriesResult:
      type: object
      properties:
        seriesID:
          type: string
          description: The BLS series identifier
          example: LNS14000000
        catalog:
          $ref: '#/components/schemas/SeriesCatalog'
        data:
          type: array
          items:
            $ref: '#/components/schemas/DataPoint'
        calculations:
          $ref: '#/components/schemas/Calculations'
    TimeSeriesRequest:
      type: object
      required:
      - seriesid
      properties:
        seriesid:
          type: array
          items:
            type: string
          minItems: 1
          maxItems: 50
          description: Array of BLS series IDs (max 50 for v2)
          example:
          - LNS14000000
          - CUUR0000SA0
        startyear:
          type: string
          pattern: ^\d{4}$
          description: Start year for data retrieval (4-digit year)
          example: '2020'
        endyear:
          type: string
          pattern: ^\d{4}$
          description: End year for data retrieval (4-digit year)
          example: '2024'
        catalog:
          type: boolean
          description: Include series catalog/description metadata (v2 only)
          default: false
        calculations:
          type: boolean
          description: Include net change and percent change calculations (v2 only)
          default: false
        annualaverage:
          type: boolean
          description: Include annual average values (v2 only)
          default: false
        aspects:
          type: boolean
          description: Include aspect metadata for data points (v2 only)
          default: false
        registrationkey:
          type: string
          description: BLS API registration key (required for v2)
    Footnote:
      type: object
      properties:
        code:
          type: string
          description: Footnote code letter
          example: P
        text:
          type: string
          description: Footnote description text
          example: Preliminary
    SeriesCatalog:
      type: object
      description: Metadata description of a BLS series (v2 only)
      properties:
        series_title:
          type: string
          description: Human-readable title of the series
          example: Unemployment Rate
        series_id:
          type: string
          description: The series identifier
        seasonality:
          type: string
          description: Whether data is seasonally adjusted
          example: Seasonally Adjusted
        survey_name:
          type: string
          description: Name of the BLS survey program
          example: Current Population Survey
        survey_abbreviation:
          type: string
          description: Abbreviated survey code
          example: LN
        measure_data_type:
          type: string
          description: Type of measurement
          example: Percent
        commerce_industry:
          type: string
          description: Industry classification if applicable
        occupation:
          type: string
          description: Occupation if applicable
        area:
          type: string
          description: Geographic area
    ErrorResponse:
      type: object
      properties:
        status:
          type: string
          enum:
          - REQUEST_FAILED_ERROR
          - REQUEST_NOT_PROCESSED
        responseTime:
          type: integer
        message:
          type: array
          items:
            type: string
          description: Error message details
        Results:
          type: object
          description: Empty results object
    TimeSeriesResponse:
      type: object
      properties:
        status:
          type: string
          enum:
          - REQUEST_SUCCEEDED
          - REQUEST_FAILED_ERROR
          - REQUEST_NOT_PROCESSED
          description: Overall request status
        responseTime:
          type: integer
          description: Server processing time in milliseconds
        message:
          type: array
          items:
            type: string
          description: Informational or error messages
        Results:
          type: object
          properties:
            series:
              type: array
              items:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/SeriesResult'
    Calculations:
      type: object
      description: Statistical calculations for a data point (v2 only)
      properties:
        net_changes:
          type: object
          additionalProperties:
            type: string
          description: Net change values by period type
        pct_changes:
          type: object
          additionalProperties:
            type: string
          description: Percent change values by period type
  securitySchemes:
    ApiKey:
      type: apiKey
      in: query
      name: registrationkey
      description: Free API registration key from https://data.bls.gov/registrationEngine/. Required for v2 API access with higher rate limits.
externalDocs:
  description: BLS Developers Home
  url: https://www.bls.gov/developers/home.htm