VOL. XCIV, NO. 247
★ A CURATED DIRECTORY OF FINANCIAL TOOLS AND RESOURCES ★
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Saturday, January 17, 2026
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Review, Pricing, and Features
Official U.S. government labor and price statistics portal. Provides web data tools, a release calendar (with ICS subscription), bulk text downloads, and a Public Data API for published historical time series in JSON or XLSX. API v1 is open without registration; API v2 requires a registration key (renew at least annually) and unlocks higher limits plus optional calculations/annual averages and some series description (“catalog”) metadata.
Community votes (overall)
Key features
- Public Data API to retrieve published historical time series data in JSON or as an Excel spreadsheet (XLSX).
- Two API versions: v2 requires registration for expanded access; v1 is available without registration.
- Documented usage limits: registered (v2) up to 500 queries/day, 50 series/query, 20 years/query; unregistered (v1) up to 25 queries/day, 25 series/query, 10 years/query; request rate limit 50 requests per 10 seconds.
- API uses HTTP GET and POST and follows REST architecture (GET for single item requests; POST for other requests per developer docs).
- API signatures and endpoints for time series retrieval (including an.xlsx output option) and survey metadata; single-series signatures return a 3-year period by default.
- Sample code provided for multiple languages (e.g., C#, Java, Python, R, SAS, Unix command line, and others).
- Release calendar with publication schedules for news releases and an online calendar subscription (ICS) for integrating releases into calendar apps.
- Website data tools include Series Report (query by Series ID and date range) and other tables/tools for accessing time series data.
- Bulk “Text Files” download endpoint with time-series datasets available via download.bls.gov (e.g., /pub/time.series/ directories).
FAQ
Is U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) free?
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is free to use. Visit the vendor site for the latest limits and onboarding details.
Who is U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) best for?
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is built for Retail Traders, Institutional Investors, Analysts, Quants/Developers, and Students/Researchers. It suits beginner, intermediate, and advanced users.
What platforms and connections does U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) support?
You can use U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) on Web. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) offers an API (REST) with None and APIKey authentication.
Which markets does U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) cover?
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) covers North America. Examples include US.
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