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 collects, processes, analyzes, and disseminates essential statistical data to the American public, the U.S. Congress, other Federal agencies, state and local governments, businesses, and labor representatives. The BLS also serves as a statistical resource to the United States Department of Labor, and conducts research measuring the income levels families need to maintain a satisfactory quality of life.
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.
History
The Bureau of Labor was established within the Department of the Interior on June 27, 1884, to collect information about employment and labor. Its creation under the Bureau of Labor Act (23 Stat. 60) stemmed from the findings of U.S. Senator Henry W. Blair's "Labor and Capital Hearings", which examined labor issues and working conditions in the U.S.GB McKinney, Henry W. Blair's Campaign to Reform America: From the Civil War to the U.S (2012) 110-111 Statistician Carroll D. Wright became the first U.S. Commissioner of Labor in 1885, a position he held until 1905. The Bureau's placement within the federal government structure changed three times in the first 29 years following its formation. It was made an independent (sub-Cabinet) department by the Department of Labor Act (25 Stat. 182) on June 13, 1888. The Bureau was then incorporated into the Department of Commerce and Labor by the Department of Commerce Act (32 Stat. 827) on February 14, 1903. Finally, it was transferred under the Department of Labor in 1913, where it resides today. Starting in 1992, BLS was headquartered in the Postal Square Building near Washington Union Station. During 2024, BLS headquarters were moved to the Suitland Federal Center in Suitland, Maryland, into the same facility that houses the Bureau of the Census headquarters.
Since 1915, the BLS has published the Monthly Labor Review, a journal focused on the data and methodologies of labor statistics.
The BLS is headed by a commissioner who serves a four-year term of office.
Erica Groshen 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.Presidential Nominations, 112th Congress (011 - 2012), PN1404-112 , Library of Congress, thomas.loc.govSenate Confirms Erica Groshen to Head Bureau of Labor Statistics , by Jeffrey Sparshott at Wall Street Journal] William Wiatrowski, Deputy Commissioner of the BLS, served as Acting Commissioner until the next commissioner, William Beach was sworn in. Beach served until January 2024, at which time he was succeeded by Erika McEntarfer.
Firing of Commissioner McEntarfer
On August 1, 2025, President Donald Trump announced that he would fire Commissioner McEntarfer, hours after a downward revision in job creation was published in the Bureau's July jobs report. According to the BBC, "[t]he decision shocked Wall Street and raised alarm about White House interference in economic data."bbc.com 2 August 2025: Trump fires lead official on economic data as tariffs cause market drop Commentators pointed out that due to BLS security precautions, the commissioner did not have access to the systems that collect the data for this report, and could not change the results without a large number of people knowing and at least some of them complaining publicly.
The White House nominated Brett Matsumoto to be the new Commissioner, filing for Senate confirmation on May 11, 2026.Nominations and Withdrawal Sent to the Senate, at whitehouse.gov
US Jobs Report Every month, usually on the first Friday, the BLS releases its Employment Situation Summary, commonly known as the "US jobs report," among other monthly, quarterly, annual, etc., reports.
The methods the BLS uses for the surveys that originate the data for the jobs reports, and how the calculations for the reports are done, are publicly available government data, published on the BLS website.
The BLS collects job data in two separate surveys: the Current Population Survey (CPS) and Current Employment Statistics (CES).
Current Population Survey (CPS)
This survey provides data on the employed, unemployed, and those not in the labor force. It measures the unemployment rate, labor force participation rate, and employment-to-population ratio. It is a monthly survey of U.S. households, conducted by the United States Census Bureau for the BLS. Participation in the survey is voluntary.
After the interviews are conducted, the Census Bureau processes the raw data files (as submitted by interviewers) to create a microdata file that can be used to produce estimates. This processing includes removing all personally identifiable information, assigning standardized occupation and industry classifications, editing the data for completeness and consistency, and creating new data elements based on responses to multiple survey questions. Data from field interviewers and centralized call centers are transmitted to Census Bureau headquarters daily during the survey interview period through secure electronic communications. When the Census Bureau's processing activities are completed, the microdata file is securely transferred to the BLS for estimation of labor force statistics.
Current Employment Statistics (CES)
This program produces detailed industry estimates of nonfarm employment, hours, and earnings of workers on payrolls. CES National Estimates (CES-N) produces data for the nation, and CES State and Metro Area (CES-SA) produces estimates for all 50 States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and about 450 metropolitan areas and divisions.
Both surveys are needed for a complete picture of the labor market, and the estimates differ because the surveys have distinct definitions of employment and distinct survey and estimation methods.
Revisions
The BLS cautions on its releases page that "data in archived news releases may have been revised in subsequent releases. The latest data, including any revisions, may be obtained from the databases accessible on the program homepages."
In addition to the last month's information, the jobs report revises up or down the previous two months' jobs totals. The primary reasons for the monthly revisions are the collection of additional samples and seasonal adjustments. Also, each year, CES March employment data are reanchored or benchmarked to employment population totals primarily derived from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages. This is done by replacing the March data-based employment estimates with universe counts of employment. The data are also re-seasonally adjusted to account for the benchmark revision and the re-evaluation of outliers and models. "Although revisions can seem disruptive to some users, they are an integral part of the quality control of CES sample-based estimates." The BLS does not wait until it has all the reports to make the estimate and avoid revisions because users of the data are "intensely interested in the earliest possible read on labor market developments." As the revised estimates are based on more complete data, they create a higher resolution picture; sometimes, the revised data produce a totally different picture.
Following Trump's firing of Commissioner McEntarfer, the media explained how The Employment Situation reports are made, stating that revisions are not unusual, nor are large changes in them abnormal. The BLS considers its initial job numbers as preliminary when they are first published, because some businesses do not report their payroll data by the deadline (only about 60% do), making the report harder to estimate. The BLS continues collecting the payroll data (three months after the deadline, when more than 90% of workplaces have responded), and revising it according to seasonal adjustments; if more complete data is much above or below the preliminary data, "revisions can be exacerbated by the BLS' seasonal adjustments, which sometimes need to be recalculated." The data is revised in each of the two months following the initial report, also in a preliminary annual revision (August), and in a final annual revision (February), adding unemployment insurance data; there is a 10-year revision with census data. The BLS does not provide lengthy analyses of the revisions; according to William Beach, "it's normal for BLS not to explain those differences, because then they're doing a job outside of the job they're supposed to do, which is to take the data, and statistically make modifications to the estimates based on the data."
According to the WSJ, the BLS has faced issues with data collection in recent years. Budget cuts—including a governmental hiring freeze earlier this year—and response rates have made providing real-time, accurate data more difficult. For example, the BLS surveys about 120,000 employers by phone or online to track the number of jobs in the economy and about 30% to 40% do not reply on time—up from under 20% a decade ago.
According to Barry Knapp of Ironsides Macroeconomics, the model used by BLS systematically overestimates the employment effects of small businesses. At the same time, reduced numbers of job-seeking foreigners are not caused by higher employment but by increased deportations and sinking immigration, which is not reflected in the BLS reports.
Commissioners
Commissioners of Labor Statistics (1885 to present):
PortraitCommissionerTook officeLeft office1Carroll D. WrightJanuary 1885January 19052Charles P. NeillFebruary 1905May 1913ActingGeorge HangerMay 1913August 19133Royal MeekerAugust 11, 1913June 19204Ethelbert StewartJune 1920June 1932ActingCharles E. BaldwinJuly 1932July 19335Isador LubinJuly 1933January 1946ActingA. Ford HinrichsJanuary 1946July 1946ActingAryness Joy WickensJuly 1946August 19466Ewan ClagueAugust 1946September 19657Arthur RossOctober 1965July 1968ActingBen BurdetskyJuly 1968March 19698Geoffrey H. MooreMarch 1969January 1973ActingBen BurdetskyJanuary 1973July 19739Julius ShiskinJuly 1973October 197810Janet L. NorwoodMay 1979December 1991ActingWilliam G. Barron Jr.December 1991October 199311Katharine AbrahamOctober 1993October 2001ActingLois OrrOctober 2001July 200212Kathleen UtgoffJuly 2002July 2006ActingPhilip RonesJuly 2006January 200813Keith HallJanuary 2008January 2012ActingJohn M. (Jack) GalvinJanuary 2012January 201314Erica GroshenJanuary 29, 2013January 27, 2017ActingWilliam J. Wiatrowski January 28, 2017March 27, 201915William BeachMarch 28, 2019March 27, 2023ActingWilliam J. Wiatrowski March 28, 2023January 28, 202416Erika McEntarfer January 29, 2024August 1, 2025ActingWilliam J. Wiatrowski August 1, 2025August 11, 202617Brett MatsumotoAugust 11, 2026Present
Table notes:
Statistical reporting Statistics published by the BLS fall into four main categories:
Prices U.S. Consumer Price Index Producer Price Index U.S. Import and Export Price Indexes 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 JOLTS report - Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey Economic geography Salary Data Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS)