Skip to Content

An official website of the United States government 	  	Here is how you know 

  United States Department of Labor

**The .gov means it's official.** Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information,			make sure you're on a federal government site.		

**The site is secure.** The			**https://** ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any			information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.		

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Follow UsRelease CalendarBlog

                - Search buttonSearch:  Follow Us | Release Calendar | Blog 
                - Home   - About BLS
- History
- Our Leadership
- Budget and Performance
- Questions and Answers
- A-Z Index
- Glossary
- Careers at BLS 
- BLS Speakers Available
- Errata
- Contact BLS
- Overview of BLS Statistics
- Guide to Programs & Services
- Demographics
- Industries
- Business Costs
- Occupations
- Geography
- Resources For
- Business Leaders
- Consumers
- Developers
- Economists
- Investors
- Jobseekers
- Media
- Public Policymakers
- Researcher
- Students & Teachers
- Survey Respondents
 
                - Subjects   - Inflation & Prices
- Consumer Price Index
- Producer Price Indexes
- Import/Export Price Indexes
- Contract Escalation
- Price Index Research
- Pay & Benefits
- Employment Cost Index
- Employer Costs for Employee Compensation
- Wage Data by Occupation
- Earnings by Demographics
- Earnings by Industry
- County Wages
- Benefits
- Modeled Wage Estimates
- Compensation Research
- Strikes & Lockouts 
- Wage Records from Unemployment Insurance
- Occupational Requirements
- Unemployment
- National Unemployment Rate 
- State & Local Unemployment Rates 
- Unemployment Research
- Employment
- National Employment 
- State & Local Employment 
- County Employment 
- Worker Characteristics 
- American Indian Report
- Employment Projections 
- Job Openings & Labor Turnover Survey 
- Business Response Survey
- Employment by Occupation 
- Work Experience Over Time 
- Business Employment Dynamics 
- Foreign Direct Investment 
- Employment Research
- Workplace Injuries
- Productivity
- Labor and Total Factor Productivity
- Productivity Research
- Spending & Time Use
- Consumer Expenditures 
- How Americans Spend Time
- International
- International Technical Cooperation
- Import/Export Price Indexes
- Geographic Information
- Northeast (Boston-New York)
- Mid-Atlantic (Philadelphia)
- Southeast (Atlanta)
- Midwest (Chicago)
- Southwest (Dallas)
- Mountain-Plains (Kansas City)
- West (San Francisco)
 
                - Data Tools   - Data Retrieval Tools
- BLS Popular Series
- Series Report
- Top Picks, One Screen, Multi-Screen, and Maps
- Data Finder
- Public Data API
- Charts and Applications
- Charts for Economic News Releases
- CPI Inflation Calculator
- Injury and Illness Calculator
- Pay Measure Comparison
- Demographic Data Sources
- COVID-19 Economic Trends
- Industry Productivity Viewer
- Employment and Wages Data Viewer
- Industry Finder from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages
- Customized Tables
- U.S. Economy at a Glance
- Regions, States & Areas at a Glance
- Industry at a Glance
- Text Files
- News Release Tables
- More Sources of Data
- Restricted Data Access
- Discontinued Databases 
- Questions & Answers
- Special Notices 
 
                - Publications   - Latest Publications
- The Economics Daily
- Monthly Labor Review
- Beyond the Numbers
- Spotlight on Statistics
- Reports
- Commissioner's Corner
- Videos
- Career Outlook
- Occupational Outlook Handbook
- Geographic Profile
- Handbook of Methods
- Research Papers
- Copyright Information
- Contact & Help 
- Weekly Update
 
                - Economic Releases   - Latest Releases
- Major Economic Indicators
- Schedules for news Releases
- By Month
- By News Release
- Current Year
- Prior Years
- Archived News Releases
- Employment & Unemployment
- Monthly
- Quarterly, annual, and other
-  Inflation & Prices
- Pay & Benefits & Workplace Injuries
- Productivity & Technology
- Employment Projections
- Regional News Releases
 
                - Classroom   - K-12 Student & Teacher Resources
- Games & Quizzes
- Student's Desk
- Teacher's Desk
- Questions & Answers
 
                - Beta   - Redesigned News Releases
 

# Data API

The BLS **Public Data Application Programming Interface (API)** is an application designed to allow third party programmers, developers, and organizations to retrieve published historical time series data in JSON data-interchange format or as an Excel spreadsheet. Using **Public Data API** signatures, users can consume and manipulate raw data from all of the Bureau’s surveys to create a wide range of applications that conform to W3C standards and accepted practices. The BLS **Public Data API** does not require registration and is open for public use. Sample code is provided for developers and programmers for the most popular languages currently available. Feedback is encouraged and will aid in further enhancement and development of the Bureau’s **Public Data API**.

For more information about the BLS Public Data API, please visit the BLS Public Data API Developer's site.

## Version 2.4 (10/05/2020)

### Release Notes:

                - New query parameter “aspects” that retrieves the aspect associated with a data point for a given BLS series ID.
                - Aspects can be retrieved through GET & POST request including excel requests.

## Version 2.3 (2/28/2018)

### Release Notes:

                - New query parameter "latest" that retrieves the most recent data point for a given BLS series ID.
                - If the results of an API request include the most recent data point for a given BLS series ID, then the data point will be flagged as "latest" in the JSON response.
                - Metadata for a BLS series ID now includes the survey abbreviation.
                - Adds a /surveys URL endpoint that returns a list of all BLS surveys with associated metadata or the metadata for a single survey.
                - Adds a /popular URL endpoint that returns series IDs for the 25 most popular BLS and survey-specific series.

## Version 2.2 (11/3/2016)

### Release Notes:

                - API 2.2 organizes JSON results in descending order, with the most recent data first.
                - The Excel output for the API will include the annualaverage, if the annualaverage parameter has been set to "true."
                - Users should now format all API request parameters in lowercase format so that they are consistent.

## Version 2.1 (02/09/2016)

### Release Notes:

                - API 2.1 supports x-www-form-urlencoded content type format for the request body.
                - API 2.1 supports excel spreadsheet (XLSX) as a response format.
                - Implemented fix to address daily query limit for registered users not being reset in some instances.

## Version 2.0 (10/16/2014)

### Release Notes:

                - User  registration  is now required for use of the Public Data API and its new features. Users must provide an email and organization name during registration.
                - API 2.0 returns up to 20 years of data for up to 50 time series, with a daily limit of 500 queries.
                - Net and percent calculations are available for one month, two months, six months, twelve months.
                - Annual averages are available.
                - Series description information (catalog) is available for a limited number of series. (Only surveys included in the  BLS Data Finder  tool are available for catalog information.)

### Known Limitations:

                - Users must have knowledge of  BLS Series IDs  to successfully complete a request.
                - The API will only return observational values and footnotes. It does not return metadata.
                - There is a maximum of 50 time series in a single request.
                - Users may request a maximum of 500 queries daily.
                - Users may request a maximum of 20 years of data.

## Version 1.0 (8/19/2013)

### Release Notes:

                - The API returns up to 10 years of data for up to 25 time series.
                - Data is available for all BLS surveys.

### Known Limitations:

                - Users must have knowledge of  BLS Series IDs  to successfully complete a request.
                - There is a maximum of 25 time series in a single request.
                - The API will only return observational values and footnotes. It does not return metadata.
                - The API will not return calculations performed by the BLS.
                - Users may request a maximum of 10 years of data.

### Addendum (9/30/2013):

                - There is a one day lag between published data and its availability for retrieval from the API. For additional information on release dates and times see the  Release Calendar .

 

For more information about the BLS Public Data API, please visit the BLS Public Data API Developer's site.

 

**Last Modified Date:** October 5, 2020

Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

        - Home
        - Subjects
        - Data Tools
        - Publications
        - Economic Releases
        - Classroom
        - Beta

**U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics**
Telephone: 1-202-691-5200 Telecommunications Relay Service: 7-1-1www.bls.govContact Us

**resources**
                  - Inspector General (OIG)
                  - Budget and Performance
                  - Department of Labor Grants
                  - No Fear Act
                  - USA.gov
                  - Vote.gov

**about the site**
                  - Sitemap
                  - Freedom of Information Act
                  - Privacy and Security Statement
                  - Disclaimers
                  - Linking and Copyright Info
                  - Important Website Notices
                  - Help and Tutorials
                  - Babel Notice: accessing language services

Connect With BLS
TwitterYoutubeEmail