US Bureau of Labor Statistics Popular Series API

openapi: 3.1.0
info:
  title: BLS Public Data Popular 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: Popular Series
  description: Retrieve the most popular BLS series identifiers
paths:
  /timeseries/popular:
    get:
      operationId: getPopularSeries
      summary: Get Popular BLS Series
      description: Returns a list of the 25 most popular BLS series IDs across all surveys. Useful for discovering commonly referenced economic indicators.
      tags:
      - Popular Series
      parameters:
      - name: registrationkey
        in: query
        required: false
        description: Your registered BLS API key
        schema:
          type: string
      - name: survey
        in: query
        required: false
        description: Filter popular series by survey abbreviation
        schema:
          type: string
        example: CU
      responses:
        '200':
          description: List of popular series IDs
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/PopularSeriesResponse'
              example:
                status: REQUEST_SUCCEEDED
                responseTime: 30
                message: []
                Results:
                  series:
                  - seriesID: LNS14000000
                    catalog:
                      series_title: Unemployment Rate
                      survey_name: Current Population Survey
                  - seriesID: CUUR0000SA0
                    catalog:
                      series_title: All items in U.S. city average, all urban consumers
                      survey_name: Consumer Price Index - All Urban Consumers
components:
  schemas:
    PopularSeriesResponse:
      type: object
      properties:
        status:
          type: string
        responseTime:
          type: integer
        message:
          type: array
          items:
            type: string
        Results:
          type: object
          properties:
            series:
              type: array
              items:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/PopularSeries'
    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
    PopularSeries:
      type: object
      properties:
        seriesID:
          type: string
          description: The BLS series identifier
          example: LNS14000000
        catalog:
          $ref: '#/components/schemas/SeriesCatalog'
  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