# BLS CPI Data Scraper | US Consumer Price Index (`parseforge/bls-cpi-data-scraper`) Actor

Pull US Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI series with period, value, area, item, and seasonally adjusted flag. Filter by series ID and date range. Built for economists, fintech apps, inflation research, and analysts tracking US consumer price index trends.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/parseforge/bls-cpi-data-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [ParseForge](https://apify.com/parseforge) (community)
- **Categories:** Other, Lead generation
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 90.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $19.00 / 1,000 results

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
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.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — 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

![ParseForge Banner](https://github.com/ParseForge/apify-assets/blob/ad35ccc13ddd068b9d6cba33f323962e39aed5b2/banner.jpg?raw=true)

## 📈 BLS CPI Data Scraper

> 🚀 **Export Consumer Price Index time series in seconds.** Pull official BLS CPI observations for any series, any year range, straight to CSV, Excel, JSON, or XML.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes the Consumer Price Index, the headline US inflation measure. This actor uses the official BLS public timeseries API to return monthly observations for any CPI series you specify.

Coverage includes All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), Wage Earners (CPI-W), Chained CPI, regional and metro indexes, and category-level series (food, energy, shelter, medical).

| 🎯 Target Audience | 💡 Primary Use Cases |
|---|---|
| Economists | Track inflation by category |
| Finance teams | Index escalators, COLA |
| Researchers | Long historical data pulls |
| Journalists | Monthly inflation reporting |

### 📋 What the BLS CPI Data Scraper does

- Calls the BLS public API (v2) for any list of CPI series IDs
- Returns monthly observations with year, period, value, and footnotes
- Supports historical pulls back to series inception
- Flags the latest observation per series

> 💡 **Why it matters:** Official inflation data, structured for analysis.

### 📊 Data fields

Each record includes: `period`, `periodName`, `results`, `scrapedAt`, `seriesId`, `value`, `year`. These field names come straight from the actor's dataset schema, so what you see here is what lands in your dataset.

> ⚠️ **Good to Know:** Without an API key, BLS limits queries. For heavy use, register a free key at bls.gov.

### 🚀 How to use

1. [Create a free account w/ $5 credit](https://console.apify.com/sign-up?fpr=vmoqkp)
2. Open the actor
3. Set series IDs and optional year range
4. Run
5. Download dataset as CSV, Excel, JSON, or XML

### 🔗 Recommended Actors

| Actor | Description |
|---|---|
| [USAspending Contracts Scraper](https://apify.com/parseforge/usaspending-contracts-scraper) | Federal awards data |
| [FDIC Bank Scraper](https://apify.com/parseforge/fdic-bank-scraper) | FDIC institution data |
| [FINRA BrokerCheck Scraper](https://apify.com/parseforge/finra-brokercheck-scraper) | Broker records |

> 💡 **Pro Tip:** browse the complete [ParseForge collection](https://apify.com/parseforge).

> **⚠️ Disclaimer:** independent tool, not affiliated with the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Only publicly available data collected.

### 🆘 Need Help?

If you hit a bug, have questions about setup, or need a scraper we haven't built yet, open our [contact form](https://tally.so/r/BzdKgA) or write to parseforge@protonmail.com. We also take on paid custom data projects.

For faster answers, join our [Discord](https://parseforge.co/discord). It's the best place to get support and suggest new actors.

# Actor input Schema

## `seriesIds` (type: `array`):

BLS CPI series identifiers (e.g. CUUR0000SA0 for All Urban Consumers, all items).

## `maxItems` (type: `integer`):

How many CPI data points to collect per run.

## `startYear` (type: `integer`):

Optional. Default is the previous 3 years.

## `endYear` (type: `integer`):

Optional. Default is the current year.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "seriesIds": [
    "CUUR0000SA0"
  ],
  "maxItems": 10
}
```

# 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 '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "seriesIds": [
        "CUUR0000SA0"
    ],
    "maxItems": 10
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("parseforge/bls-cpi-data-scraper").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 '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "seriesIds": ["CUUR0000SA0"],
    "maxItems": 10,
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("parseforge/bls-cpi-data-scraper").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 '{
  "seriesIds": [
    "CUUR0000SA0"
  ],
  "maxItems": 10
}' |
apify call parseforge/bls-cpi-data-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "mcp-remote",
                "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=parseforge/bls-cpi-data-scraper",
                "--header",
                "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_API_TOKEN>"
            ]
        }
    }
}

```

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/xbLkd08MQNys24I4d/builds/fCgK5btIaNV1befUS/openapi.json