# BLS Employment & Economic Statistics (`commonelements/bls-employment`) Actor Fetch any Bureau of Labor Statistics time series — unemployment, nonfarm payroll, CPI, wages, job openings — from the official BLS API. Supports 22,000+ series, date ranges, and batch requests. Free public API, no registration required. - **URL**: https://apify.com/commonelements/bls-employment.md - **Developed by:** [Harry Schoeller](https://apify.com/commonelements) (community) - **Categories:** Developer tools - **Stats:** 1 total users, 0 monthly users, 0.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks - **User rating**: No ratings yet ## Pricing $1.00 / 1,000 dataset item scrapeds This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events. Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event ## What's an Apify Actor? Actors are a software tools running on the Apify platform, for all kinds of web data extraction and automation use cases. In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours, and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store. In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server. Actors are written with capital "A". ## How to integrate an Actor? If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects. You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready. The best way to integrate Actors is as follows. In JavaScript/TypeScript projects, use official [JavaScript/TypeScript client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js.md): ```bash npm install apify-client ``` In Python projects, use official [Python client library](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python.md): ```bash pip install apify-client ``` In shell scripts, use [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): ````bash # MacOS / Linux curl -fsSL https://apify.com/install-cli.sh | bash # Windows irm https://apify.com/install-cli.ps1 | iex ```bash In AI frameworks, you might use the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp.md). If your project is in a different language, use the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md). For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below. For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt). # README ## BLS Employment & Economic Statistics Fetch any Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data series directly from the official public API. One output record per data point — ready for spreadsheets, databases, or dashboards. ### Features - All 22,000+ BLS series supported - Up to 10 years of history without a key; 20 years with a [free BLS key](https://data.bls.gov/registrationEngine/) - Batch multiple series in a single run - Annual averages optional (period M13) - Monthly data output with year, period, and periodName fields ### Example input ```json { "seriesIds": ["LNS14000000", "CES0000000001"], "startYear": 2020, "endYear": 2024 } ```` ### Example output record ```json { "seriesId": "LNS14000000", "year": 2024, "period": "M12", "periodName": "December", "value": 4.1, "footnotes": ["Preliminary."], "fetchedAt": "2025-01-01T00:00:00.000Z" } ``` ### Common series IDs | Metric | Series ID | |---|---| | National unemployment rate | LNS14000000 | | Total nonfarm payroll (thousands) | CES0000000001 | | CPI — All items | CUUR0000SA0 | | Average hourly earnings | CES0500000003 | | Job openings (JOLTS) | JTS000000000000000JOL | | Fed funds rate | FEDFUNDS | | 30-year mortgage rate | MORTGAGE30US | Find all series at [bls.gov/help/hlpforma.htm](https://www.bls.gov/help/hlpforma.htm). ### Use cases - Workforce analytics and economic dashboards - Financial modeling and macro research - Labor market trend analysis by industry - CPI tracking for inflation-adjusted calculations # Actor input Schema ## `seriesIds` (type: `array`): One or more BLS series IDs. Common IDs: LNS14000000 (national unemployment rate), CES0000000001 (total nonfarm payroll), CUUR0000SA0 (CPI all items). Full series catalogue at bls.gov/help/hlpforma.htm. ## `startYear` (type: `integer`): Earliest year to fetch. Defaults to 5 years ago. ## `endYear` (type: `integer`): Latest year to fetch. Defaults to current year. ## `annualAverage` (type: `boolean`): Include annual average data points (period M13) alongside monthly data. ## `registrationKey` (type: `string`): Optional. Without a key: 25 series/request, 10-year max range, 25 requests/day. With a free key: 50 series, 20-year range, 500 requests/day. Register free at data.bls.gov/registrationEngine/. ## Actor input object example ```json { "seriesIds": [ "LNS14000000", "CES0000000001" ], "annualAverage": false } ``` # Actor output Schema ## `results` (type: `string`): No description # API You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup. ## JavaScript example ```javascript import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client'; // Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token // Replace the '' with your token const client = new ApifyClient({ token: '', }); // Prepare Actor input const input = {}; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("commonelements/bls-employment").call(input); // Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any) console.log('Results from dataset'); console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`); const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems(); items.forEach((item) => { console.dir(item); }); // 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs ``` ## Python example ```python from apify_client import ApifyClient # Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token # Replace '' with your token. client = ApifyClient("") # Prepare the Actor input run_input = {} # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("commonelements/bls-employment").call(run_input=run_input) # Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any) print("💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"]) for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items(): print(item) # 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start ``` ## CLI example ```bash echo '{}' | apify call commonelements/bls-employment --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=commonelements/bls-employment", "--header", "Authorization: Bearer " ] } } } ``` ## OpenAPI specification ```json { "openapi": "3.0.1", "info": { "title": "BLS Employment & Economic Statistics", "description": "Fetch any Bureau of Labor Statistics time series — unemployment, nonfarm payroll, CPI, wages, job openings — from the official BLS API. Supports 22,000+ series, date ranges, and batch requests. Free public API, no registration required.", "version": "1.0", "x-build-id": "ABeIgno5sveMx4HZw" }, "servers": [ { "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2" } ], "paths": { "/acts/commonelements~bls-employment/run-sync-get-dataset-items": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-commonelements-bls-employment", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for its completion, and returns Actor's dataset items in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } }, "/acts/commonelements~bls-employment/runs": { "post": { "operationId": "runs-sync-commonelements-bls-employment", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK", "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema" } } } } } } }, "/acts/commonelements~bls-employment/run-sync": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-commonelements-bls-employment", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } } }, "components": { "schemas": { "inputSchema": { "type": "object", "required": [ "seriesIds" ], "properties": { "seriesIds": { "title": "BLS Series IDs", "type": "array", "description": "One or more BLS series IDs. Common IDs: LNS14000000 (national unemployment rate), CES0000000001 (total nonfarm payroll), CUUR0000SA0 (CPI all items). Full series catalogue at bls.gov/help/hlpforma.htm.", "items": { "type": "string" } }, "startYear": { "title": "Start year", "minimum": 1990, "type": "integer", "description": "Earliest year to fetch. Defaults to 5 years ago." }, "endYear": { "title": "End year", "type": "integer", "description": "Latest year to fetch. Defaults to current year." }, "annualAverage": { "title": "Include annual averages", "type": "boolean", "description": "Include annual average data points (period M13) alongside monthly data.", "default": false }, "registrationKey": { "title": "BLS registration key", "type": "string", "description": "Optional. Without a key: 25 series/request, 10-year max range, 25 requests/day. With a free key: 50 series, 20-year range, 500 requests/day. Register free at data.bls.gov/registrationEngine/." } } }, "runsResponseSchema": { "type": "object", "properties": { "data": { "type": "object", "properties": { "id": { "type": "string" }, "actId": { "type": "string" }, "userId": { "type": "string" }, "startedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "finishedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "status": { "type": "string", "example": "READY" }, "meta": { "type": "object", "properties": { "origin": { "type": "string", "example": "API" }, "userAgent": { "type": "string" } } }, "stats": { "type": "object", "properties": { "inputBodyLen": { "type": "integer", "example": 2000 }, "rebootCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "restartCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "resurrectCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "computeUnits": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "options": { "type": "object", "properties": { "build": { "type": "string", "example": "latest" }, "timeoutSecs": { "type": "integer", "example": 300 }, "memoryMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 1024 }, "diskMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 2048 } } }, "buildId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultKeyValueStoreId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultDatasetId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultRequestQueueId": { "type": "string" }, "buildNumber": { "type": "string", "example": "1.0.0" }, "containerUrl": { "type": "string" }, "usage": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 1 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "usageTotalUsd": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "usageUsd": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } } } } } } } } } ```