Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Current Employment Statistics (CES) program. CES data represents businesses and government agencies, providing detailed industry data on employment on nonfarm payrolls.

Context

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 is a governmental statistical agency that collects, processes, analyzes, and disseminates essential statistical data to the American public, the U.S. Congress, other Federal agencies, State and local governments, business, and labor representatives. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bureau_of_Labor_Statistics

Content

Bureau of Labor Statistics including CPI (inflation), employment, unemployment, and wage data.

Update Frequency: Monthly

Querying BigQuery Tables

Fork this kernel to get started.

Acknowledgements

https://bigquery.cloud.google.com/dataset/bigquery-public-data:bls

https://cloud.google.com/bigquery/public-data/bureau-of-labor-statistics

Dataset Source: http://www.bls.gov/data/

This dataset is publicly available for anyone to use under the following terms provided by the Dataset Source - http://www.data.gov/privacy-policy#data_policy - and is provided "AS IS" without any warranty, express or implied, from Google. Google disclaims all liability for any damages, direct or indirect, resulting from the use of the dataset.

Banner Photo by Clark Young from Unsplash.

Inspiration

What is the average annual inflation across all US Cities? What was the monthly unemployment rate (U3) in 2016? What are the top 10 hourly-waged types of work in Pittsburgh, PA for 2016?

The Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OES) program conducts a semi-annual survey to produce estimates of employment and wages for specific occupations. The OES program collects data on wage and salary workers in nonfarm establishments in order to produce employment and wage estimates for about 800 occupations. Data from self-employed persons are not collected and are not included in the estimates. The OES program produces these occupational estimates by geographic area and by industry. Estimates based on geographic areas are available at the National, State, Metropolitan, and Nonmetropolitan Area levels. The Bureau of Labor Statistics produces occupational employment and wage estimates for over 450 industry classifications at the national level. The industry classifications correspond to the sector, 3-, 4-, and 5-digit North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) industrial groups. More information and details about the data provided can be found at http://www.bls.gov/oes

This layer contains the latest 14 months of unemployment statistics from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The data is offered at the nationwide, state, and county geography levels. Puerto Rico is included. These are not seasonally adjusted values. The layer is updated monthly with the newest unemployment statistics available from BLS. There are attributes in the layer that specify which month is associated to each statistic. Most current month: May 2025 (preliminary values at the county level) The attributes included for each month are:Unemployment rate (%)Count of unemployed populationCount of employed population in the labor forceCount of people in the labor forceData obtained from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Data downloaded: July 18th, 2025Local Area Unemployment Statistics table download: https://www.bls.gov/lau/#tablesLocal Area Unemployment FTP downloads:State and County NationData Notes:This layer is updated automatically when the BLS releases their most current monthly statistics. The layer always contains the most recent estimates. It is updated within days of the BLS"s county release schedule. BLS releases their county statistics roughly 2 months after-the-fact. The data is joined to 2023 TIGER boundaries from the U.S. Census Bureau.Monthly values are subject to revision over time.For national values, employed plus unemployed may not sum to total labor force due to rounding.As of the January 2022 estimates released on March 18th, 2022, BLS is reporting new data for the two new census areas in Alaska - Copper River and Chugach - and historical data for the previous census area - Valdez Cordova. As of the March 17th, 2025 release, BLS now reports data for 9 planning regions in Connecticut rather than the 8 previous counties. To better understand the different labor force statistics included in this map, see the diagram below from BLS:

The Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) Program is a Federal-State cooperative program between the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and the California EDD’s Labor Market Information Division (LMID). The QCEW program produces a comprehensive tabulation of employment and wage information for workers covered by California Unemployment Insurance (UI) laws and Federal workers covered by the Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE) program. The QCEW program serves as a near census of monthly employment and quarterly wage information by 6-digit industry codes from the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) at the national, state, and county levels. At the national level, the QCEW program publishes employment and wage data for nearly every NAICS industry. At the state and local area level, the QCEW program publishes employment and wage data down to the 6-digit NAICS industry level, if disclosure restrictions are met. In accordance with the BLS policy, data provided to the Bureau in confidence are used only for specified statistical purposes and are not published. The BLS withholds publication of Unemployment Insurance law-covered employment and wage data for any industry level when necessary to protect the identity of cooperating employers. Data from the QCEW program serve as an important input to many BLS programs. The Current Employment Statistics and the Occupational Employment Statistics programs use the QCEW data as the benchmark source for employment. The UI administrative records collected under the QCEW program serve as a sampling frame for the BLS establishment surveys. In addition, the data serve as an input to other federal and state programs. The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) of the Department of Commerce uses the QCEW data as the base for developing the wage and salary component of personal income. The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration (ETA) and California's EDD use the QCEW data to administer the Unemployment Insurance program. The QCEW data accurately reflect the extent of coverage of California’s UI laws and are used to measure UI revenues; national, state and local area employment; and total and UI taxable wage trends. The U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes new QCEW data in its County Employment and Wages news release on a quarterly basis. The BLS also publishes a subset of its quarterly data through the Create Customized Tables system, and full quarterly industry detail data at all geographic levels.

The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) program provides national estimates of rates and levels for job openings, hires, and total separations. Total separations are further broken out into quits, layoffs and discharges, and other separations. Unadjusted counts and rates of all data elements are published by supersector and select sector based on the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). The number of unfilled jobs—used to calculate the job openings rate—is an important measure of the unmet demand for labor. With that statistic, it is possible to paint a more complete picture of the U.S. labor market than by looking solely at the unemployment rate, a measure of the excess supply of labor. Information on labor turnover is valuable in the proper analysis and interpretation of labor market developments and as a complement to the unemployment rate. For more information and data visit: https://www.bls.gov/jlt/

Graph and download economic data for All Employees, Manufacturing (MANEMP) from Jan 1939 to Jul 2025 about headline figure, establishment survey, manufacturing, employment, and USA.

The Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) Survey is a federal-state cooperative program between the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and State Workforce Agencies (SWAs). The BLS provides the procedures and technical support, draws the sample, and produces the survey materials, while the SWAs collect the data. SWAs from all fifty states, plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Virgin Islands participate in the survey. Occupational employment and wage rate estimates at the national level are produced by BLS using data from the fifty states and the District of Columbia. Employers who respond to states' requests to participate in the OEWS survey make these estimates possible. The OEWS survey collects data from a sample of establishments and calculates employment and wage estimates by occupation, industry, and geographic area. The semiannual survey covers all non-farm industries. Data are collected by the Employment Development Department in cooperation with the Bureau of Labor Statistics, US Department of Labor. The OEWS Program estimates employment and wages for approximately 830 occupations. It also produces employment and wage estimates for statewide, Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs), and Balance of State areas. Estimates are a snapshot in time and should not be used as a time series. The OEWS estimates are published annually. SOURCE: https://www.bls.gov/oes/oes_emp.htm

Graph and download economic data for Employed, Usually Work Full Time (LNS12500000) from Jan 1968 to Jul 2025 about full-time, 16 years +, household survey, employment, and USA.

Graph and download economic data for Multiple Jobholders as a Percent of Employed (LNS12026620) from Jan 1994 to Jul 2025 about multiple jobholders, 16 years +, percent, household survey, employment, and USA.

Graph and download economic data for Average Hourly Earnings of All Employees, Total Private (CES0500000003) from Mar 2006 to Jul 2025 about earnings, average, establishment survey, hours, wages, private, employment, and USA.

Graph and download economic data for Unemployment Rate - Black or African American (LNS14000006) from Jan 1972 to Jul 2025 about African-American, 16 years +, household survey, unemployment, rate, and USA.

Graph and download economic data for Unemployment Rate in Clayton County, GA (LAUCN130630000000003A) from 1990 to 2024 about Clayton County, GA; Atlanta; GA; unemployment; rate; and USA.

Graph and download economic data for Average Weeks Unemployed (UEMPMEAN) from Jan 1948 to Jul 2025 about 16 years +, household survey, unemployment, and USA.

Graph and download economic data for Unemployment Rate - 20 Yrs. & over (LNS14000024) from Jan 1948 to Jul 2025 about 20 years +, household survey, unemployment, rate, and USA.

Graph and download economic data for Quits: Total Nonfarm (JTSQUR) from Dec 2000 to Jun 2025 about quits, nonfarm, and USA.

Graph and download economic data for Civilian Labor Force Level (CLF16OV) from Jan 1948 to Jul 2025 about civilian, 16 years +, labor force, labor, household survey, and USA.

Graph and download economic data for Unemployment Rate in Travis County, TX (LAUCN484530000000003A) from 1990 to 2024 about Travis County, TX; Austin; TX; unemployment; rate; and USA.

Graph and download economic data for All Employees, Construction (USCONS) from Jan 1939 to Jul 2025 about establishment survey, construction, employment, and USA.

Graph and download economic data for All Employees, Government (USGOVT) from Jan 1939 to Jul 2025 about establishment survey, government, employment, and USA.