U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics website screenshot

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is the principal federal statistical agency responsible for measuring labor market activity, working conditions, and price changes in the U.S. economy. BLS collects, processes, analyzes, and disseminates statistical data on employment, unemployment, inflation, wages, productivity, and occupational safety through a public API that provides programmatic access to published historical time series data.

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes 2 APIs on the APIs.io network: Series API and Surveys API. Tagged areas include Federal Government, Labor, Statistics, Employment, and Economic Data.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics catalog on APIs.io includes 1 JSON-LD context and 2 Spectral governance rulesets.

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ developer surface includes authentication, documentation, getting-started guide, FAQ, and 7 more developer resources.

🌐 Visit website 📡 Source on GitHub
49.9/100 developing ▼ -6.9 Agent 44/100 agent ready Full breakdown ↓
scored 2026-07-28 · rubric v0.6
AccessFreemiumSelf serve⚡ Free to try
2 APIs 6 Features 5 Use Cases
Federal GovernmentLaborStatisticsEmploymentEconomic Data

Kin Score

Kin Score Kin Score How this is scored →
scored 2026-07-28 · rubric v0.6
Composite quality — 49.9/100 · developing
Contract Quality 17.2 / 25
Developer Ergonomics 6.1 / 20
Commercial Clarity 10.0 / 20
Operational Transparency 4.1 / 13
Governance 5.7 / 12
Discoverability 6.9 / 10
Agent readiness — 44/100 · agent ready
Machine-Readable Contract 18 / 18
Agentic Access Contract 10 / 10
MCP Server 0 / 12
Machine-Readable Auth 10 / 10
Idempotency 0 / 9
Stable Error Semantics 8 / 8
Request/Response Examples 7 / 7
Rate-Limit Signaling 7 / 7
Typed Event Surface 0 / 6
Agent Skills 0 / 5
Well-Known Catalog 0 / 4
Consent & Bot Identity 0 / 3
A2A Agent Card 0 / 8
Dry-Run / Simulate Mode 0 / 4
Improve this rating by publishing the missing artifacts — every area above can be raised, and the full rubric is at apis.io/rating/. This rating is computed from github.com/api-evangelist/u-s-bureau-of-labor-statistics: open an issue to ask a question, or submit a pull request to add artifacts. Want it done for you? Prioritized profiling — $2,500 →

APIs 2

Individual APIs this provider publishes, each with its own machine-readable definition.

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Series API

Time series data operations for retrieving labor statistics across BLS surveys including employment, CPI, wages, and more.

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Surveys API

Survey metadata and catalog operations for discovering available BLS surveys and their series identifiers.

Pricing Plans 1

Published pricing tiers and plan structures.

U S Bureau Of Labor Statistics Plans Pricing

3 plans

PLANS

Rate Limits 1

Documented rate limits and quota policies.

U S Bureau Of Labor Statistics Rate Limits

5 limits

RATE LIMITS

FinOps 1

Cost, billing, and metering signals for API financial operations.

U S Bureau Of Labor Statistics Finops

FINOPS

Features 6

Notable capabilities this provider offers.

Time Series Data Access

Retrieve historical labor statistics data using BLS series IDs covering employment, unemployment, CPI, wages, and productivity.

Multiple Series in One Request

Version 2 API allows requesting up to 50 series in a single POST request, returning 20 years of data per series.

Net and Percent Change Calculations

Optional calculations including net change and percent change from prior periods are available in Version 2 responses.

Survey Catalog Discovery

Retrieve metadata for all available BLS surveys and discover popular series IDs through the catalog endpoint.

Annual Averages

Request annual average values (M13 period) alongside monthly data for trend analysis.

Public API with Free Registration

The BLS API is free to use. Version 1 requires no registration; Version 2 requires a free API key for higher query limits.

Semantic Vocabularies 1

JSON-LD contexts and semantic vocabularies used across these APIs.

Bls Public Data Api Context

13 classes · 36 properties

JSON-LD

Spectral Rules 2

Spectral governance rulesets for linting and validating these APIs.

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics API Rules

33 rules · 9 errors 17 warnings 7 info

SPECTRAL

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics API Rules

5 rules · 3 warnings 2 info

SPECTRAL

JSON Schema 13

Standalone JSON Schema definitions for this provider's data models.

Calculations

2 properties

JSON SCHEMA

DataPoint

7 properties

JSON SCHEMA

Footnote

2 properties

JSON SCHEMA

MultipleSeriesRequest

8 properties

JSON SCHEMA

PeriodCalculations

2 properties

JSON SCHEMA

PopularSeriesResponse

4 properties

JSON SCHEMA

SeriesCatalog

8 properties

JSON SCHEMA

SeriesData

4 properties

JSON SCHEMA

SeriesResponse

4 properties

JSON SCHEMA

SeriesResults

1 properties

JSON SCHEMA

SurveyMetadataResponse

4 properties

JSON SCHEMA

Survey

4 properties

JSON SCHEMA

SurveysResponse

4 properties

JSON SCHEMA

Scroll for all 13

JSON Structure 13

JSON Structure definitions describing this provider's data shapes.

Bls Calculations Structure

2 properties

JSON STRUCTURE

Bls Data Point Structure

7 properties

JSON STRUCTURE

Bls Footnote Structure

2 properties

JSON STRUCTURE

Bls Multiple Series Request Structure

8 properties

JSON STRUCTURE

Bls Period Calculations Structure

2 properties

JSON STRUCTURE

Bls Popular Series Response Structure

4 properties

JSON STRUCTURE

Bls Series Catalog Structure

8 properties

JSON STRUCTURE

Bls Series Data Structure

4 properties

JSON STRUCTURE

Bls Series Response Structure

4 properties

JSON STRUCTURE

Bls Series Results Structure

1 properties

JSON STRUCTURE

Bls Survey Metadata Response Structure

4 properties

JSON STRUCTURE

Bls Survey Structure

4 properties

JSON STRUCTURE

Bls Surveys Response Structure

4 properties

JSON STRUCTURE

Scroll for all 13

Examples 13

Example request and response payloads for these APIs.

Bls Calculations Example

2 fields

EXAMPLE

Bls Data Point Example

7 fields

EXAMPLE

Bls Footnote Example

2 fields

EXAMPLE

Bls Multiple Series Request Example

8 fields

EXAMPLE

Bls Period Calculations Example

2 fields

EXAMPLE

Bls Popular Series Response Example

4 fields

EXAMPLE

Bls Series Catalog Example

8 fields

EXAMPLE

Bls Series Data Example

4 fields

EXAMPLE

Bls Series Response Example

4 fields

EXAMPLE

Bls Series Results Example

1 fields

EXAMPLE

Bls Survey Example

4 fields

EXAMPLE

Bls Survey Metadata Response Example

4 fields

EXAMPLE

Bls Surveys Response Example

4 fields

EXAMPLE

Scroll for all 13

Security Posture 2

Authentication, domain security, vulnerability disclosure, and trust-center signals.

U S Bureau Of Labor Statistics Authentication

apiKey · 1 scheme

SECURITY

U S Bureau Of Labor Statistics Domain Security

TLSv1.3 · DNSSEC · DMARC

SECURITY

Agentic Access 1

Recommended x-agentic-access execution contracts for AI agents.

U S Bureau Of Labor Statistics Agentic Access

5 operations · 1 acting

5 operations · 1 acting

AGENTIC

Use Cases 5

What developers build with this provider.

Economic Research

Economists and researchers use BLS time series data to analyze labor market trends, wage growth, and employment cycles.

Inflation Monitoring

Track CPI and PPI data for measuring inflation trends across consumer goods, food, energy, and other categories.

Employment Policy Analysis

Policy analysts use unemployment and employment statistics to evaluate labor market conditions and inform policy decisions.

Dashboard and Application Development

Developers integrate BLS data into economic dashboards, journalism applications, and data visualization tools.

Academic Research

Universities and think tanks use BLS historical data for econometric modeling, academic papers, and policy reports.

Integrations 4

Pre-built integrations with other platforms and tools.

Python blsapi

Open-source Python package for querying the BLS API with support for v1 and v2 endpoints.

R blsAPI

CRAN R package providing a simple interface to the BLS Public Data API for statistical computing.

Microsoft Power Platform

BLS connector available in Power Automate, Power Apps, and Copilot Studio for low-code BLS data access.

data.gov

BLS datasets are cataloged on data.gov as part of the federal open data initiative.

Resources

Get Started 1

Portal, sign-up, and the first successful call

GettingStarted
GettingStarted

Documentation 1

Reference material describing how the API behaves

Documentation
Documentation

Agent Surfaces 1

MCP servers, agent skills, and machine-readable catalogs

AgenticAccess
AgenticAccess

Design & Contract 2

Pagination, idempotency, versioning, errors, and events

SpectralRules
SpectralRules
 Vocabulary
Vocabulary

Access & Security 2

Authentication, authorization, and security posture

DomainSecurity
DomainSecurity
 Authentication
Authentication

Operate 1

Status, limits, changes, and where to get help

FAQ
FAQ

Commercial 1

Pricing, plans, and the legal terms of use

PrivacyPolicy
PrivacyPolicy

Company 2

The organization behind the API

LinkedIn
LinkedIn
 Website
Website

Source (apis.yml)

apis.yml Raw ↑ 
aid: u-s-bureau-of-labor-statistics
name: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
description: The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is the principal federal statistical agency responsible for measuring
  labor market activity, working conditions, and price changes in the U.S. economy. BLS collects, processes, analyzes, and
  disseminates statistical data on employment, unemployment, inflation, wages, productivity, and occupational safety through
  a public API that provides programmatic access to published historical time series data.
accessModel:
  pricing: freemium
  onboarding: self-serve
  trial: false
  try_now: true
  public: false
  label: Freemium · Self-serve signup
  confidence: high
  source:
  - plans
  - authentication
  generated: '2026-07-22'
  method: derived
image: https://kinlane-images.s3.amazonaws.com/shared/apis-json/icons/u-s-bureau-of-labor-statistics.png
url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/u-s-bureau-of-labor-statistics/refs/heads/main/apis.yml
type: Index
created: '2024-12-25'
modified: '2026-05-19'
specificationVersion: '0.19'
tags:
- Federal Government
- Labor
- Statistics
- Employment
- Economic Data
apis:
- aid: u-s-bureau-of-labor-statistics:u-s-bureau-of-labor-statistics-series-api
  name: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Series API
  description: Time series data operations for retrieving labor statistics across BLS surveys including employment, CPI, wages,
    and more.
  humanURL: https://www.bls.gov/developers/
  baseURL: https://api.bls.gov/publicAPI/v2
  tags:
  - Series
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/u-s-bureau-of-labor-statistics-series-api-openapi.yml
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://www.bls.gov/developers/api_signature_v2.htm
  - type: GettingStarted
    url: https://www.bls.gov/developers/
  - type: Authentication
    url: https://data.bls.gov/registrationEngine/
  - type: JSONSchema
    url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/u-s-bureau-of-labor-statistics/refs/heads/main/json-schema/bls-series-data-schema.json
  - type: JSONSchema
    url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/u-s-bureau-of-labor-statistics/refs/heads/main/json-schema/bls-data-point-schema.json
  - type: JSONSchema
    url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/u-s-bureau-of-labor-statistics/refs/heads/main/json-schema/bls-survey-schema.json
  - type: JSONStructure
    url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/u-s-bureau-of-labor-statistics/refs/heads/main/json-structure/bls-series-data-structure.json
  - type: JSONLD
    url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/u-s-bureau-of-labor-statistics/refs/heads/main/json-ld/bls-public-data-api-context.jsonld
  - type: Examples
    url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/u-s-bureau-of-labor-statistics/refs/heads/main/examples/bls-series-data-example.json
  - type: Examples
    url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/u-s-bureau-of-labor-statistics/refs/heads/main/examples/bls-data-point-example.json
- aid: u-s-bureau-of-labor-statistics:u-s-bureau-of-labor-statistics-surveys-api
  name: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Surveys API
  description: Survey metadata and catalog operations for discovering available BLS surveys and their series identifiers.
  humanURL: https://www.bls.gov/developers/
  baseURL: https://api.bls.gov/publicAPI/v2
  tags:
  - Surveys
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/u-s-bureau-of-labor-statistics-surveys-api-openapi.yml
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://www.bls.gov/developers/api_signature_v2.htm
  - type: GettingStarted
    url: https://www.bls.gov/developers/
  - type: Authentication
    url: https://data.bls.gov/registrationEngine/
  - type: JSONSchema
    url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/u-s-bureau-of-labor-statistics/refs/heads/main/json-schema/bls-series-data-schema.json
  - type: JSONSchema
    url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/u-s-bureau-of-labor-statistics/refs/heads/main/json-schema/bls-data-point-schema.json
  - type: JSONSchema
    url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/u-s-bureau-of-labor-statistics/refs/heads/main/json-schema/bls-survey-schema.json
  - type: JSONStructure
    url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/u-s-bureau-of-labor-statistics/refs/heads/main/json-structure/bls-series-data-structure.json
  - type: JSONLD
    url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/u-s-bureau-of-labor-statistics/refs/heads/main/json-ld/bls-public-data-api-context.jsonld
  - type: Examples
    url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/u-s-bureau-of-labor-statistics/refs/heads/main/examples/bls-series-data-example.json
  - type: Examples
    url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/u-s-bureau-of-labor-statistics/refs/heads/main/examples/bls-data-point-example.json
common:
- type: AgenticAccess
  url: agentic-access/u-s-bureau-of-labor-statistics-agentic-access.yml
- type: DomainSecurity
  url: security/u-s-bureau-of-labor-statistics-domain-security.yml
- type: Authentication
  url: authentication/u-s-bureau-of-labor-statistics-authentication.yml
- type: LinkedIn
  url: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bureau-of-labor-statistics
- type: Website
  url: https://www.bls.gov/
- type: Documentation
  url: https://www.bls.gov/developers/
- type: GettingStarted
  url: https://www.bls.gov/developers/home.htm
- type: PrivacyPolicy
  url: https://www.bls.gov/bls/bls-privacy.htm
- type: FAQ
  url: https://www.bls.gov/developers/api_faqs.htm
- type: SpectralRules
  url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/u-s-bureau-of-labor-statistics/refs/heads/main/rules/bls-public-data-api-rules.yml
- type: Vocabulary
  url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/u-s-bureau-of-labor-statistics/refs/heads/main/vocabulary/u-s-bureau-of-labor-statistics-vocabulary.yaml
- type: Features
  data:
  - name: Time Series Data Access
    description: Retrieve historical labor statistics data using BLS series IDs covering employment, unemployment, CPI, wages,
      and productivity.
  - name: Multiple Series in One Request
    description: Version 2 API allows requesting up to 50 series in a single POST request, returning 20 years of data per
      series.
  - name: Net and Percent Change Calculations
    description: Optional calculations including net change and percent change from prior periods are available in Version
      2 responses.
  - name: Survey Catalog Discovery
    description: Retrieve metadata for all available BLS surveys and discover popular series IDs through the catalog endpoint.
  - name: Annual Averages
    description: Request annual average values (M13 period) alongside monthly data for trend analysis.
  - name: Public API with Free Registration
    description: The BLS API is free to use. Version 1 requires no registration; Version 2 requires a free API key for higher
      query limits.
- type: UseCases
  data:
  - name: Economic Research
    description: Economists and researchers use BLS time series data to analyze labor market trends, wage growth, and employment
      cycles.
  - name: Inflation Monitoring
    description: Track CPI and PPI data for measuring inflation trends across consumer goods, food, energy, and other categories.
  - name: Employment Policy Analysis
    description: Policy analysts use unemployment and employment statistics to evaluate labor market conditions and inform
      policy decisions.
  - name: Dashboard and Application Development
    description: Developers integrate BLS data into economic dashboards, journalism applications, and data visualization tools.
  - name: Academic Research
    description: Universities and think tanks use BLS historical data for econometric modeling, academic papers, and policy
      reports.
- type: Integrations
  data:
  - name: Python blsapi
    description: Open-source Python package for querying the BLS API with support for v1 and v2 endpoints.
  - name: R blsAPI
    description: CRAN R package providing a simple interface to the BLS Public Data API for statistical computing.
  - name: Microsoft Power Platform
    description: BLS connector available in Power Automate, Power Apps, and Copilot Studio for low-code BLS data access.
  - name: data.gov
    description: BLS datasets are cataloged on data.gov as part of the federal open data initiative.
maintainers:
- FN: Kin Lane
  email: kin@apievangelist.com