vocabulary: name: US Bureau of Labor Statistics Vocabulary description: >- Domain vocabulary for the Bureau of Labor Statistics, covering labor market concepts, survey programs, statistical measures, data series identifiers, and economic indicators used in BLS publications and APIs. version: '1.0' created: '2026-05-03' modified: '2026-05-03' tags: - Federal Government - Labor Statistics - Economic Data - Employment terms: - term: Series ID definition: >- A unique alphanumeric identifier assigned to each BLS time series. The prefix letters indicate the survey program (e.g., LN for Current Population Survey, CU for CPI-U, CE for Current Employment Statistics). examples: - LNS14000000 (Seasonally Adjusted Unemployment Rate) - CUUR0000SA0 (CPI-U All Items, Not Seasonally Adjusted) - CES0000000001 (Total Nonfarm Employment) - term: Time Series definition: >- A sequence of statistical measurements taken at successive points in time, organized by BLS series ID. Each series represents a specific economic indicator measured over time with consistent methodology. - term: Seasonally Adjusted definition: >- Statistical technique that removes regular seasonal patterns from data to reveal underlying trends. Many BLS series are available in both seasonally adjusted (SA) and not seasonally adjusted (NSA) versions. - term: Consumer Price Index (CPI) abbreviation: CPI definition: >- A measure of the average change over time in the prices paid by urban consumers for a market basket of goods and services. The CPI-U covers all urban consumers; CPI-W covers urban wage earners and clerical workers. survey: Consumer Price Index - All Urban Consumers (CU) - term: Current Population Survey (CPS) abbreviation: CPS definition: >- A monthly survey of households conducted by the Census Bureau for the BLS. The CPS is the primary source of US labor force statistics including the national unemployment rate, employment levels, and demographic breakdowns. survey: Current Population Survey (LN) - term: Current Employment Statistics (CES) abbreviation: CES definition: >- A monthly survey of payroll records that provides employment, hours, and earnings data for workers on nonfarm payrolls. Also known as the establishment survey or payroll survey. survey: Current Employment Statistics (CE) - term: Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) abbreviation: OEWS definition: >- An annual survey providing employment and wage estimates for over 800 occupations across all industries and geographic areas. Formerly called Occupational Employment Statistics (OES). survey: Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OE) - term: Producer Price Index (PPI) abbreviation: PPI definition: >- A family of indexes that measure average changes over time in selling prices received by domestic producers for their output. PPI measures price changes from the producer/seller perspective. survey: Producer Price Indexes (PC) - term: Unemployment Rate definition: >- The percentage of the labor force that is jobless, looking for jobs, and available for work. Persons are classified as unemployed if they don't have a job, have actively looked for work in the prior 4 weeks, and are currently available for work. - term: Labor Force definition: >- The sum of employed and unemployed persons. The labor force participation rate is the labor force as a percent of the civilian noninstitutional population. - term: Nonfarm Payroll Employment definition: >- The total number of US workers in any business, excluding farm workers, private household employees, proprietors, and nonprofit organization employees. A key indicator of economic health reported monthly. - term: Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) abbreviation: JOLTS definition: >- A monthly survey that provides data on job openings, hires, and separations (quits, layoffs, and discharges) to measure labor demand and workforce flows. survey: Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JT) - term: Registration Key definition: >- A free API key obtained by registering at the BLS data registration portal. Required for v2 API access, which provides higher query limits (500 daily queries, 50 series per request, 20 years of data). - term: Period Code definition: >- A code indicating the time period of a data observation. Monthly periods are coded M01-M12, with M13 representing an annual average. Quarterly periods use Q01-Q04. Annual data uses A01. - term: Preliminary Data definition: >- BLS data marked with footnote code 'P' indicating the value may be revised in subsequent releases as additional data becomes available. - term: Benchmark Revision definition: >- A periodic comprehensive revision of BLS estimates that incorporate more complete data sources, revised seasonal adjustment factors, and updated methodologies. Typically occurs annually for the CES survey. - term: NAICS abbreviation: NAICS definition: >- North American Industry Classification System. The standard used by Federal statistical agencies for classifying business establishments for the purpose of collecting, analyzing, and publishing statistical data related to the US business economy. - term: SOC abbreviation: SOC definition: >- Standard Occupational Classification system. Used by federal statistical agencies to classify workers into occupational categories for collecting, calculating, and disseminating data including BLS wage and employment data. surveys: - abbreviation: AP name: Average Price Data description: Monthly average retail food and fuel prices in US cities - abbreviation: BD name: Business Employment Dynamics description: Quarterly job gains and losses from establishment births, deaths, expansions, contractions - abbreviation: CE name: Current Employment Statistics description: Monthly payroll survey covering employment, hours, and earnings - abbreviation: CU name: Consumer Price Index - All Urban Consumers description: Monthly price index for all urban consumers (CPI-U) - abbreviation: CW name: Consumer Price Index - Urban Wage Earners description: Monthly price index for urban wage earners (CPI-W) - abbreviation: EN name: Employment Cost Index description: Quarterly employment cost index covering wages, salaries, and benefits - abbreviation: IP name: Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization description: Monthly industrial production and capacity utilization - abbreviation: JT name: Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey description: Monthly job openings, hires, and separations - abbreviation: LN name: Current Population Survey description: Monthly household survey providing unemployment and labor force data - abbreviation: OE name: Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics description: Annual occupational employment and wage estimates - abbreviation: PC name: Producer Price Indexes description: Monthly price changes from the producer perspective - abbreviation: PR name: Major Sector Productivity and Costs description: Quarterly labor productivity and costs by sector - abbreviation: SM name: State and Metro Area Employment, Hours, and Earnings description: Monthly state and metropolitan area employment statistics