The Bureau of Labor Statistics

Background

The Department of Labor Act created the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) in 1913. The BLS is an independent federal agency within the United States Department of Labor. The BLS replaced several predecessor organizations, including the Bureau of Labor. The function of the BLS is to conduct research and to disseminate information relating to all areas of labor economics. The American public, Congress, state and local governments, the Department of Labor, labor organizations, employers, and others all rely upon the information that the BLS analyzes.

Overview

The BLS is responsible for a number of well-known indicators and statistics, including the following critical reports:

Consumer Price Index

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is the most widely-used measure of inflation in the United States. This monthly statistic sets forth the changes in prices of all goods and services purchased for consumption by urban consumers.

Producer Price Index

The Producer Price Index (PPI) is a set of monthly numbers that establishes the change in selling price received by domestic producers of goods and services. The PPI often forms the basis for adjustments to contracts prices. It also may foreshadow price changes at the consumer level.

Consumer Spending

The Consumer Expenditure Survey captures detailed data on consumers' spending and product consumption.

Wages by Area and Occupation

The BLS compiles detailed statistics regarding wages by occupation, region, and industry. It also tracks employee benefit plan information.

Unemployment Rates

The BLS is responsible for establishing and reporting the national unemployment rate. In addition, it reports instances of mass layoffs, state and local unemployment statistics, and job turnover information.

Productivity

The BLS tracks worker and industry productivity through the collection of data related to worker output per hour and unit labor costs.

Safety and Health Information

The BLS tracks and reports workplace-related injuries, fatalities, and illnesses.

Methodology

The BLS relies heavily on voluntary reporting of information by American industry. To ensure that companies comply with the reporting requests, the BLS is authorized to keep all collected information confidential, as to its source. The BLS has never been required by a court of law to turn over individual reports from firms participating in the data collection surveys.

Copyright 2009 LexisNexis, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc.