Bureau of Labor Statistics Public Data API

bls.gov · Government

Government API Key Free & Open Government Insurance Financial Services Labor Employment Economics

Access BLS time-series data including employment, wages, CPI, unemployment, and Occupational Safety & Health statistics. The OIICS survey data (series prefix IIU) contains industry-level workers compensation injury and illness rates — the primary federal source for workers comp actuarial tables.

Authentication

API Key Free registration at bls.gov/developers gives an API key. Unregistered requests are allowed but rate-limited to 25/day vs 500/day with a key.

Parameter name: registrationkey (in query)

Sample Requests

GET Get CPI series (inflation)

Returns Consumer Price Index — All Urban Consumers, All Items. Series IDs found at bls.gov/help/hlpforma.htm.

https://api.bls.gov/publicAPI/v2/timeseries/data/CUUR0000SA0?registrationkey=YOUR_API_KEY

Hover any highlighted part to learn what it does

curl -X GET "https://api.bls.gov/publicAPI/v2/timeseries/data/CUUR0000SA0?registrationkey=YOUR_API_KEY"

import requests
params = {
    "registrationkey": "YOUR_API_KEY"
}
response = requests.get(
    "https://api.bls.gov/publicAPI/v2/timeseries/data/CUUR0000SA0",
    params=params,
)
print(response.json())

const url = new URL('https://api.bls.gov/publicAPI/v2/timeseries/data/CUUR0000SA0');
url.searchParams.set('registrationkey', 'YOUR_API_KEY');

const response = await fetch(url); 
const data = await response.json();
console.log(data);

package main

import (
	"fmt"
	"io"
	"net/http"
	"net/url"
)

func main() {
	baseURL, _ := url.Parse("https://api.bls.gov/publicAPI/v2/timeseries/data/CUUR0000SA0")
	q := baseURL.Query()
	q.Set("registrationkey", "YOUR_API_KEY")
	baseURL.RawQuery = q.Encode()
	targetURL := baseURL.String()
	req, _ := http.NewRequest("GET", targetURL, nil)

	client := &http.Client{}
	resp, _ := client.Do(req)
	defer resp.Body.Close()
	body, _ := io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
	fmt.Println(string(body))
}

require "net/http"
require "json"

uri = URI("https://api.bls.gov/publicAPI/v2/timeseries/data/CUUR0000SA0")
uri.query = URI.encode_www_form({
  "registrationkey" => "YOUR_API_KEY"
})

http = Net::HTTP.new(uri.host, uri.port)
http.use_ssl = uri.scheme == "https"

req = Net::HTTP::Get.new(uri)

res = http.request(req)
puts JSON.parse(res.body)

<?php
$url = "https://api.bls.gov/publicAPI/v2/timeseries/data/CUUR0000SA0?" . http_build_query([
    "registrationkey" => "YOUR_API_KEY"
]);
$opts = ["http" => [
    "method" => "GET",
]];
$ctx = stream_context_create($opts);
$res = file_get_contents($url, false, $ctx);
print_r(json_decode($res, true));

POST Get multiple series with date range (POST)

Fetch multiple BLS series in one call. Workers comp injury series start with IIU (e.g. IIU00_10000000 = all private industry injury/illness cases).

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

Hover any highlighted part to learn what it does

Headers — extra info sent with the request

Content-Type

application/json

Request Body — data you're sending

{
  "endyear": "2024",
  "seriesid": [
    "IIU00_10000000",
    "CUUR0000SA0"
  ],
  "startyear": "2020",
  "registrationkey": "YOUR_API_KEY"
}

curl -X POST "https://api.bls.gov/publicAPI/v2/timeseries/data" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"endyear":"2024","seriesid":["IIU00_10000000","CUUR0000SA0"],"startyear":"2020","registrationkey":"YOUR_API_KEY"}'

import requests
headers = {
    "Content-Type": "application/json"
}
data = {
    "endyear": "2024",
    "seriesid": [
        "IIU00_10000000",
        "CUUR0000SA0"
    ],
    "startyear": "2020",
    "registrationkey": "YOUR_API_KEY"
}
response = requests.post(
    "https://api.bls.gov/publicAPI/v2/timeseries/data",
    headers=headers,
    json=data,
)
print(response.json())

const url = 'https://api.bls.gov/publicAPI/v2/timeseries/data';

const response = await fetch(url, {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: {
    'Content-Type': 'application/json'
  },
  headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
  body: JSON.stringify({
  "endyear": "2024",
  "seriesid": [
    "IIU00_10000000",
    "CUUR0000SA0"
  ],
  "startyear": "2020",
  "registrationkey": "YOUR_API_KEY"
}),
}); 
const data = await response.json();
console.log(data);

package main

import (
	"fmt"
	"io"
	"net/http"
	"bytes"
	"encoding/json"
)

func main() {
	targetURL := "https://api.bls.gov/publicAPI/v2/timeseries/data"
	jsonData, _ := json.Marshal({"endyear":"2024","seriesid":["IIU00_10000000","CUUR0000SA0"],"startyear":"2020","registrationkey":"YOUR_API_KEY"})
	req, _ := http.NewRequest("POST", targetURL, bytes.NewBuffer(jsonData))
	req.Header.Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
	req.Header.Set("Content-Type", "application/json")

	client := &http.Client{}
	resp, _ := client.Do(req)
	defer resp.Body.Close()
	body, _ := io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
	fmt.Println(string(body))
}

require "net/http"
require "json"

uri = URI("https://api.bls.gov/publicAPI/v2/timeseries/data")

http = Net::HTTP.new(uri.host, uri.port)
http.use_ssl = uri.scheme == "https"

req = Net::HTTP::Post.new(uri)
req["Content-Type"] = "application/json"
req["Content-Type"] = "application/json"
req.body = "{\"endyear\":\"2024\",\"seriesid\":[\"IIU00_10000000\",\"CUUR0000SA0\"],\"startyear\":\"2020\",\"registrationkey\":\"YOUR_API_KEY\"}"

res = http.request(req)
puts JSON.parse(res.body)

<?php
$url = "https://api.bls.gov/publicAPI/v2/timeseries/data";
$opts = ["http" => [
    "method" => "POST",
    "header" => implode("\r\n", [
        "Content-Type: application/json",
        "Content-Type: application/json"
    ]),
    "content" => json_encode({"endyear":"2024","seriesid":["IIU00_10000000","CUUR0000SA0"],"startyear":"2020","registrationkey":"YOUR_API_KEY"}),
]];
$ctx = stream_context_create($opts);
$res = file_get_contents($url, false, $ctx);
print_r(json_decode($res, true));

Postman Setup Guide

Get Postman ↗

Register free at https://data.bls.gov/registrationEngine/ to get an API key (500 req/day)
Find series IDs at https://www.bls.gov/help/hlpforma.htm — workers comp series start with IIU
For workers comp injury rates: series prefix IIU, e.g. IIU00_10000000 = all private industry
For state-level workers comp data: series prefix IIU followed by state FIPS code
In Postman, POST to https://api.bls.gov/publicAPI/v2/timeseries/data
Body: { "seriesid": ["SERIES_ID"], "startyear": "2020", "endyear": "2024", "registrationkey": "YOUR_KEY" }
Response includes data array with year, period, value — value is incidence rate per 100 FTE workers

What can you build with Bureau of Labor Statistics Public Data API?

Bureau of Labor Statistics Public Data API is a Government API. Developers commonly use government APIs for:

surfacing public datasets in citizen-facing apps
building transparency and civic engagement tools
accessing legislation, court records, and official data
powering research and journalism tools
creating compliance and regulatory monitoring dashboards

API Key authentication. You'll receive a key after signing up. Send it with every request — in a header or query parameter. Keep it out of client-side code and never commit it to version control. Bureau of Labor Statistics Public Data API is free to use, making it a low-risk choice to experiment with.

New to APIs? Read our beginner's guide · Learn about API keys · What is REST?

Open documentation ↗