Communicating Complex Data Simply at the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Jay Meisenheimer

Chief, Division of New Media

‹#› — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics • bls.gov

1

AORTA — An acronym thatreflects BLS values

Accurate

Objective

Relevant

Timely

Accessible

‹#› — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics • bls.gov

‹#› — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics • bls.gov

2

My focus today is on the last three

Relevant

Timely

Accessible

‹#› — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics • bls.gov

‹#› — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics • bls.gov

From Handbook of Methods chapter on Consumer Price Index

‹#› — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics • bls.gov

‹#› — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics • bls.gov

Is that excerpt relevantand accessible?

Maybe for experts.

We strive to reach the full range of potential data users, from novice (including K–12 students and their teachers) to experts.

‹#› — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics • bls.gov

‹#› — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics • bls.gov

Products and toolsto reach more people

Publications for a range of audiences

Chart packages

Fact sheets and similar web content

Blog

Videos

Podcasts (coming soon!)

‹#› — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics • bls.gov

‹#› — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics • bls.gov

6

BLS news releases

Still with an old-school look, but modern version coming soon!

Current design created long before the internet.

Redesigned news releases will have interactive data visualizations and analysis with quick facts and less dense text.

Learn more at our beta page.

‹#› — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics • bls.gov

‹#› — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics • bls.gov

Interactive Chart Packages

Complement our current news releases, but we still plan to keep these packages even after redesigned news releases are available.

Charts help people see historical trends or compare groups more easily.

Available at www.bls.gov/charts/

‹#› — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics • bls.gov

‹#› — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics • bls.gov

Showing trends

‹#› — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics • bls.gov

‹#› — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics • bls.gov

Teaching confidence intervals

‹#› — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics • bls.gov

‹#› — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics • bls.gov

Animated unemployment map

‹#› — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics • bls.gov

‹#› — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics • bls.gov

The Economics Daily

The gateway to BLS data.

Published every business day since 1998.

The heart of every TED is a chart or map (sometimes two).

Brief nontechnical text, typically around 200 words, to tell an interesting data story.

At the end we provide links so interested readers can dig deeper.

‹#› — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics • bls.gov

‹#› — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics • bls.gov

National Taco Day!

‹#› — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics • bls.gov

‹#› — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics • bls.gov

Spotlight on Statistics

The Style section of BLS.

Slideshow layout with a series of charts and brief supporting text telling a data story.

‹#› — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics • bls.gov

‹#› — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics • bls.gov

One of my recent favorites

‹#› — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics • bls.gov

‹#› — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics • bls.gov

Beyond the Numbers

More focused on written analysis than The Economics Daily or Spotlight on Statistics.

May also include charts and maps to help tell an interesting story.

Target audience is entry-level data users and journalists, not necessarily with economic or statistical background.

‹#› — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics • bls.gov

‹#› — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics • bls.gov

Monthly Labor Review

The BLS research journal.

Began publishing in 1915.

Target audience includes people in academia, researchers, and sophisticated data user.

We still strive to make articles clear, readable, and interesting to a broader audience.

‹#› — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics • bls.gov

‹#› — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics • bls.gov

Commissioner’s Corner Blog

Less formal, chattier than some of our other publications

May dig into the weeds on issues that can be pretty technical, but in a nontechnical way.

‹#› — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics • bls.gov

‹#› — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics • bls.gov

Some recent blog favorites

BLS Data in More Than a Century of Pictures

A Look at the Price of Construction

BLS at the Olympics

Brood X Cicadas over the History of BLS Data

How Much Does a Cup of Coffee Cost?

Update on the Misclassification that Affected the Unemployment Rate

‹#› — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics • bls.gov

‹#› — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics • bls.gov

Videos

‹#› — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics • bls.gov

‹#› — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics • bls.gov

@BLS_gov

Meet data users where they are; it’s not enough to post things on our website and hope people find them.

Promote BLS publications, new products, our data user conferences, and commemorative events.

Engage users and answer questions (without feeding the trolls).

‹#› — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics • bls.gov

‹#› — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics • bls.gov

Jay Meisenheimer

Chief, Division of New Media

www.bls.gov

twitter.com/BLS_gov

703-409-0845

meisenheimer.joseph@bls.gov

Contact Information

‹#› — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics • bls.gov

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