How does the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) gather information

October 7, 2024 US onAir Curator

Bureau of Labor Statistics

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) collects information from a variety of sources, including businesses, households, and the U.S. Census Bureau: 
  • Surveys

    BLS conducts surveys of businesses and households to gather information on topics like income, expenditures, and characteristics. BLS statisticians design surveys, and field economists use a variety of methods to collect the data, including personal visits, mail, telephone, email, and video calls. 

  • Sampling

    The U.S. Census Bureau selects samples of household addresses to collect data for the BLS. BLS also collects data from a sample of establishments each month on topics like employment, payroll, and paid hours. 

  • Web scraping

    BLS can ask businesses to allow them to access information from their website using web scraping or an Application Programming Interface (API). 

  • Online portal

    BLS provides an online portal for respondents to provide information or upload data files. 

BLS edits all reported data to ensure that it is consistent and correctly reported. 

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