# BLS Labor Statistics Scraper - CPI, Jobs & Wages (`thirdwatch/bls-labor-statistics-scraper`) Actor

Export official U.S. labor time series from BLS, including CPI, unemployment, employment, earnings, and other series. Get normalized periods, values, footnotes, and source links. Built for research, diligence, and market intelligence.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/thirdwatch/bls-labor-statistics-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Thirdwatch](https://apify.com/thirdwatch) (community)
- **Categories:** Business, Education
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $2.00 / 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/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
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.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## 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.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## BLS Labor Statistics Scraper

Export official U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics time-series observations without managing a BLS API client. Use series IDs to collect CPI, unemployment, employment, earnings, productivity, prices, and hundreds of other public indicators.

### What you get

- One clean dataset row per period and series
- Numeric values, period labels, latest-record flags, and footnotes
- Official BLS source links and predictable JSON, CSV, or Excel exports
- Keyless access with conservative public-API limits

### Output fields

`series_id`, `series_title`, `year`, `period`, `period_name`, `value`, `footnotes`, `latest`, `source_url`, and `source`.

### Example output

```json
{"series_id":"LNS14000000","series_title":"Civilian unemployment rate","year":2026,"period":"M06","period_name":"June","value":4.1,"footnotes":[],"latest":true,"source_url":"https://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LNS14000000"}
```

### Input parameters

| Parameter | Description |
|---|---|
| `seriesIds` | Up to 25 BLS series IDs. |
| `startYear` | First year to include. |
| `endYear` | Last year to include. |
| `includeAnnualAverages` | Include annual-average records where available. |
| `maxResultsPerSeries` | Maximum observations saved per series. |

### Use cases

Inflation dashboards, labor-market research, economic monitoring, wage analysis, forecasting inputs, newsroom data, and automated reports.

### Limitations

The keyless BLS public tier allows 25 series per query and a 10-year window. Series IDs come from BLS; unknown IDs may return no rows. This Actor does not revise or interpret official values.

### Compared to alternatives

This Actor uses the official BLS API and starts at $2 per 1,000 saved observations. It is designed as a lower-cost, normalized alternative to recent Store listings charging around $19 per 1,000 results. Try the [BLS Labor Statistics Scraper](https://apify.com/thirdwatch/bls-labor-statistics-scraper), see [all Thirdwatch Actors](https://apify.com/thirdwatch), or read the [Thirdwatch BLS guide](https://thirdwatch.dev/actors/bls-labor-statistics-scraper).

### FAQ

**Do I need a BLS key?** No. The Actor uses the supported unregistered tier.

**What does one result cost?** One saved observation is one PPE event. Empty searches cost no result fee.

Open the [input form](https://apify.com/thirdwatch/bls-labor-statistics-scraper?tab=input) or review [recent runs](https://apify.com/thirdwatch/bls-labor-statistics-scraper?tab=runs).

Last verified: 2026-07

# Actor input Schema

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

Up to 25 BLS series IDs, such as CUUR0000SA0 for CPI or LNS14000000 for unemployment.

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

First year to include. The keyless BLS tier supports windows of up to 10 years.

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

Last year to include.

## `includeAnnualAverages` (type: `boolean`):

Ask BLS to include annual-average records where available.

## `maxResultsPerSeries` (type: `integer`):

Stop after this many observations for each series ID.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "seriesIds": [
    "CUUR0000SA0",
    "LNS14000000"
  ],
  "startYear": 2024,
  "endYear": 2026,
  "includeAnnualAverages": false,
  "maxResultsPerSeries": 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",
        "LNS14000000"
    ],
    "startYear": 2024,
    "endYear": 2026,
    "maxResultsPerSeries": 10
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("thirdwatch/bls-labor-statistics-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",
        "LNS14000000",
    ],
    "startYear": 2024,
    "endYear": 2026,
    "maxResultsPerSeries": 10,
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("thirdwatch/bls-labor-statistics-scraper").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).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",
    "LNS14000000"
  ],
  "startYear": 2024,
  "endYear": 2026,
  "maxResultsPerSeries": 10
}' |
apify call thirdwatch/bls-labor-statistics-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,thirdwatch/bls-labor-statistics-scraper"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/GXi9y8xxkTcbNHRg3/builds/UPkjhMyARrNrF7TDt/openapi.json