Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)

How It Works

The Bureau of Labor Statistics is the principal fact-finding agency for the U.S. government in the field of labor economics and statistics. Founded in 1884, BLS produces dozens of data products including: the Current Employment Statistics (CES) survey tracking monthly job creation, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) measuring inflation, the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey providing salary data, the Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH) with career information, and the Employment Projections program forecasting future job growth. BLS data is nonpartisan and independent — its methodologies are transparent and its findings are released on pre-announced dates to prevent political manipulation. BLS wage data is considered the most reliable public salary information because of its massive sample size (1.1 million establishments), consistent methodology, and coverage of all U.S. regions and industries. Other salary data sources (Glassdoor, PayScale, LinkedIn) rely on self-reported data from users, which can be biased toward higher-paid or more tech-savvy workers. BLS data has no such selection bias.

Related Terms

• BLS OEWS (Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics) — The Bureau of Labor Statistics survey that produces the salary data used by SalaryTruth — covering 800+ occupations across all U.S. metro areas, with data from 1.1 million business establishments.
• Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) Code — A federal system that categorizes every U.S. job into one of 867 detailed occupations — used by BLS, DOL, and Census Bureau to track wages, employment, and labor market trends.
• Job Market Outlook (Projected Growth) — BLS projections for how fast employment in an occupation will grow or shrink over the next decade — measured as a percentage change in total jobs.