Harman Patil (Editor)

Bureau of Labor Statistics

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Formed
  
1884

Number of employees
  
2,500

Founded
  
1884

Annual budget
  
609 million USD


Agency executives
  
William J. Wiatrowski (Acting), Commissioner William J. Wiatrowski, Deputy Commissioner

Website
  
www.bls.gov www.dol.gov/bls

Headquarters
  
Washington, D.C., United States

Jurisdiction
  
Federal government of the United States

Parent organization
  
United States Department of Labor

Profiles

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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. 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 is a governmental statistical agency that collects, processes, analyzes, and disseminates essential statistical data to the American public, the U.S. Congress, other Federal agencies, State and local governments, business, and labor representatives. The BLS also serves as a statistical resource to the Department of Labor, and conducts research into how much families need to earn to be able to enjoy a decent standard of living.

Contents

The 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.

Bureau of labor statistics


History

The Bureau of Labor was established in the Department of the Interior by the Bureau of Labor Act (23 Stat. 60), June 27, 1884, to collect information about employment and labor. Carroll D. Wright was the first U.S. Commissioner of Labor. It became an independent (sub-Cabinet) department by the Department of Labor Act (25 Stat. 182), June 13, 1888. It was incorporated, as the Bureau of Labor, into the Department of Commerce and Labor by the Department of Commerce Act (32 Stat. 827), February 14, 1903. Finally, it was transferred to the Department of Labor in 1913 where it resides today. BLS is now headquartered in the Postal Square Building near the United States Capitol and Union Station.

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 was Erica Groshen, 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, is serving as Acting Commissioner until the next commissioner is sworn in.

Statistical reporting

Surveys, Indices, and Statistics produced by the BLS fall into 4 main categories:

Prices

  • U.S. Consumer Price Index
  • Producer Price Index
  • U.S. Import and Export Price Indices
  • Consumer Expenditure Survey

    • Employment and unemployment

  • Current Population Survey (The "Household Survey")
  • The American Time Use Survey
  • Current Employment Statistics (The "Establishment Survey")
  • Payroll Employment
  • Economic geography
  • Salary Data
  • Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS)
  • List of U.S. states by unemployment rate
  • Current Employment Statistics State and Area program
  • The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS)
  • The Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW)
  • The Business Employment Dynamics (BED) program
  • Ten year occupational employment projections
  • Occupational Employment Statistics (OES)
  • Mass Layoff Statistics--discontinued in 2013

    • Compensation and working conditions

  • National Compensation Survey
  • Employment Cost Index
  • Workplace Injury and Fatality Statistics

    • Productivity

  • 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.

    • References

    Bureau of Labor Statistics Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA