BLS Data — Free Bureau of Labor Statistics API (No Key)

TL;DR

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) API provides official US government data on employment, unemployment, consumer prices (CPI), producer prices (PPI), wages, productivity, and occupational injuries. The API supports both public (no key, daily limit of 25 requests) and registration-based (free key, 500 daily requests, up to 50 series per request) access. Data series are identified by unique series IDs, and responses include annual, monthly, or quarterly data points with optional year-over-year calculations. Series can be queried individually or in bulk.

Quick start: https://api.bls.gov/publicAPI/v2/timeseries/data/LNS14000000

No API key needed — just make a request!

How to Use This API

1. Get US Unemployment Rate (Series LNS14000000)

https://api.bls.gov/publicAPI/v2/timeseries/data/LNS14000000

Returns monthly unemployment data with latest year first.

2. Get CPI Data with Year Range

https://api.bls.gov/publicAPI/v2/timeseries/data/CUUR0000SA0?startyear=2023&endyear=2025

CUUR0000SA0 is CPI for All Urban Consumers (All Items). Use calculations=true for year-over-year percent changes.

3. Get Average Hourly Earnings

https://api.bls.gov/publicAPI/v2/timeseries/data/CES0500000003?startyear=2024&endyear=2026

CES0500000003 = average hourly earnings of all employees, total private.

4. POST Request — Query Multiple Series

POST https://api.bls.gov/publicAPI/v2/timeseries/data/
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "seriesid": ["LNS14000000", "CUUR0000SA0", "CES0000000001"],
  "startyear": "2024",
  "endyear": "2026",
  "calculations": true
}

POST requests can query up to 50 series at once. The response includes all series data in a single JSON payload.

5. Response Format

{
  "status": "REQUEST_SUCCEEDED",
  "responseTime": 42,
  "message": [],
  "Results": {
    "series": [
      {
        "seriesID": "LNS14000000",
        "data": [
          {
            "year": "2026",
            "period": "M04",
            "periodName": "April",
            "value": "3.9",
            "footnotes": [{}]
          }
        ]
      }
    ]
  }
}

6. JavaScript — Fetch Latest Unemployment

fetch('https://api.bls.gov/publicAPI/v2/timeseries/data/LNS14000000')
  .then(r => r.json())
  .then(d => {
    const latest = d.Results.series[0].data[0];
    console.log(`US Unemployment: ${latest.value}% (${latest.periodName} ${latest.year})`);
  });

7. Python — Query Multiple Series

import requests

payload = {
    "seriesid": ["LNS14000000", "CUUR0000SA0"],
    "startyear": "2025",
    "endyear": "2026",
    "calculations": True
}
resp = requests.post(
    'https://api.bls.gov/publicAPI/v2/timeseries/data/',
    json=payload
)
data = resp.json()
for series in data['Results']['series']:
    print(f"\nSeries: {series['seriesID']}")
    for point in series['data'][:3]:
        print(f"  {point['periodName']} {point['year']}: {point['value']}")

Try it: https://api.bls.gov/publicAPI/v2/timeseries/data/LNS14000000

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Frequently Asked Questions

What are the most common BLS series IDs?: LNS14000000 (unemployment rate), CUUR0000SA0 (CPI all items), CES0000000001 (total nonfarm employment), APU0000708111 (gasoline prices), CES0500000003 (average hourly earnings), and PRS84006173 (productivity).
What is the difference between public and registered API?: Public API: max 25 requests per day, no key needed. Registered: up to 500 requests per day, with 50 series per request. Registration is free at data.bls.gov/registration/.
How do I query multiple series at once?: Use POST to /publicAPI/v2/timeseries/data/ with a JSON body containing a seriesid array (max 50 series per request). POST requests also support calculations=true for year-over-year changes and annualaverage=true for yearly averages.
What time periods are available?: Most series go back to 1948 or earlier. Use startyear and endyear parameters to set the range. Some series have monthly, quarterly, or annual frequency indicated in the response.
How do I get year-over-year calculations?: Add &calculations=true to your request URL or include it in the POST JSON body. The response will include calculations fields with percent change from the same period in the prior year.
Can I get state-level unemployment data?: Yes, state-level series use different IDs. For example, LASST060000000000003 is California's unemployment rate. Browse the BLS website for state-specific series IDs.

What You Can Build

Economic dashboard showing CPI, unemployment, and wages side by side
Inflation tracker with month-over-month and year-over-year CPI comparisons
Job market analysis tool comparing employment across industries and states
Financial planning calculator that adjusts for CPI inflation automatically
Data journalism tool pulling latest BLS numbers for news articles and reports
Personal finance app showing how wages track against CPI in your state