bls-data/series_id_formats.md

BLS Series ID Formats

Series IDs are the primary key for every BLS API call and bulk data file. All IDs use a two-letter survey prefix followed by survey-specific coded segments.

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LAUS — Local Area Unemployment Statistics (prefix: LA)

Series ID: LA[S][AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA][MM]

Pos	Length	Field	Notes
1-2	2	Prefix	Always LA
3	1	Seasonal adj	S=seasonally adjusted, U=unadjusted
4-18	15	Area code	See area type prefixes below
19-20	2	Measure code	See table below

Area code prefixes:

Prefix	Geography
ST	State (2-digit FIPS + 12 zeros)
MT	Metropolitan statistical area
MD	Metro division
CN	County (5-digit FIPS + 10 zeros)
CS	City/sub-county
RD	Region/division

Measure codes:

Code	Measure
03	Unemployment rate
04	Unemployment (level)
05	Employment
06	Labor force
07	Employment-population ratio
08	Labor force participation rate
09	Civilian noninstitutional population

Examples:

LAUST110000000000003  → DC, state, seasonally adj, unemployment rate
LAUST110000000000005  → DC, state, seasonally adj, employment
LAUCN110010000000003  → DC County, unadjusted, unemployment rate

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CES — Current Employment Statistics, National (prefix: CE)

Series ID: CE[S/U][IIIIIIII][DD]

Pos	Length	Field	Notes
1-2	2	Prefix	CE (national) or SM (state/metro)
3	1	Seasonal adj	S=seasonally adjusted, U=unadjusted
4-11	8	Industry code	Supersector (2) + NAICS-derived (6)
12-13	2	Data type	See table below

Industry code — supersector first 2 digits:

Code	Supersector
00	Total nonfarm
05	Total private
06	Goods-producing
07	Service-providing
08	Private service-providing
09	Government
10	Mining & logging
20	Construction
30	Manufacturing
31	Durable goods
32	Nondurable goods
40	Trade, transportation, utilities
41	Wholesale trade
42	Retail trade
43	Trans., warehousing, utilities
50	Information
55	Financial activities
60	Professional & business services
65	Education & health services
70	Leisure & hospitality
80	Other services
90	Government

Data type codes (most common):

Code	Measure
01	All employees (thousands)
02	Average weekly hours, all employees
03	Average hourly earnings, all employees
06	Production/nonsupervisory employees
07	Avg weekly hours, prod/nonsupervisory
08	Avg hourly earnings, prod/nonsupervisory
10	Women employees
11	Avg weekly earnings, all employees

Examples:

CES0000000001  → Total nonfarm, SA, all employees
CES0500000001  → Total private, SA, all employees
CES3000000001  → Manufacturing, SA, all employees
CES9000000001  → Government, SA, all employees

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SM — State & Metro Employment (CES State, prefix: SM)

Series ID: SM[S/U][SS][MMMMM][IIIIIIII][DD]

Pos	Length	Field	Notes
1-2	2	Prefix	SM
3	1	Seasonal adj	S or U
4-5	2	State FIPS	e.g., 11=DC, 24=MD, 51=VA
6-10	5	Area code	00000=statewide; MSA codes otherwise
11-18	8	Industry code	Same as CES above
19-20	2	Data type	Same as CES above

Examples:

SMS110000000000001  → DC statewide, SA, all employees
SMS240000000000001  → Maryland statewide, SA, all employees

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QCEW — Quarterly Census of Employment & Wages (prefix: EN)

Series ID: EN[U][AAAAA][D][Z][O][IIIIII]

Pos	Length	Field	Notes
1-2	2	Prefix	EN
3	1	Seasonal adj	Always U (unadjusted)
4-8	5	Area code	US=00000; state FIPS; county FIPS
9	1	Data type	1=qtrly; 2=annual
10	1	Size code	0=all sizes; 1–9=specific size classes
11	1	Ownership code	See table below
12-17	6	Industry code	NAICS or supersector

Ownership codes:

Code	Ownership
0	All ownerships
1	Federal government
2	State government
3	Local government
4	International government
5	Private

Examples:

ENU1100010510000  → DC, quarterly, all sizes, private, total all industries
ENU0000010510000  → National, quarterly, private, all industries

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OES/OEWS — Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics (prefix: OE)

Series ID: OE[U][T][AAAAAAA][IIIIII][OOOOOO][DD]

Pos	Length	Field	Notes
1-2	2	Prefix	OE
3	1	Seasonal adj	Always U
4	1	Area type	N=national; S=state; M=metro; B=metro div; W=nonmetro
5-11	7	Area code	BLS area code (not FIPS)
12-17	6	Industry code	NAICS or 000000 for cross-industry
18-23	6	Occupation code	SOC 6-digit code or 000000 for all
24-25	2	Data type	See table below

Data type codes:

Code	Measure
01	Employment (thousands)
02	Employment % relative standard error
03	Hourly mean wage
04	Annual mean wage
05	Wage % relative standard error
06	Hourly 10th percentile wage
07	Hourly 25th percentile wage
08	Hourly median wage
09	Hourly 75th percentile wage
10	Hourly 90th percentile wage
11	Annual 10th percentile wage
12	Annual 25th percentile wage
13	Annual median wage
14	Annual 75th percentile wage
15	Annual 90th percentile wage

Examples:

OEUM0000400000000000001  → National, all industries, all occupations, employment
OEUM0000400000015113201  → National, all industries, software devs, employment

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JOLTS — Job Openings & Labor Turnover (prefix: JT)

Series ID: JT[S/U][IIIIII][E/J][RR][LL]

Pos	Length	Field	Notes
1-2	2	Prefix	JT
3	1	Seasonal adj	S or U
4-9	6	Industry code	NAICS supersector
10	1	Job status	E=total; J=job openings; H=hires; L=layoffs/discharges; Q=quits; T=total separations
11-12	2	Rate/level	R=rate; L=level (thousands)
13-14	2	Ownership	00=total; 10=private; 20=government

Examples:

JTS000000000000JOL  → Total nonfarm, job openings, level
JTS000000000000JOR  → Total nonfarm, job openings, rate
JTS000000000000HIL  → Total nonfarm, hires, level
JTS000000000000TSL  → Total nonfarm, total separations, level

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CPI — Consumer Price Index (prefix: CU / CW / SU)

Prefixes:

• CU — CPI-U (All Urban Consumers)
• CW — CPI-W (Urban Wage Earners)
• SU — Chained CPI-U (C-CPI-U)

Series ID: CU[S/U][R/S][AAAA][IIIIII]

Pos	Length	Field	Notes
1-2	2	Prefix	CU, CW, or SU
3	1	Seasonal adj	S=SA; U=unadjusted
4	1	Periodicity	R=monthly; S=semiannual
5-8	4	Area code	0000=US city average; others=specific metros
9-14	6	Item code	Expenditure category code

Common item codes:

Code	Category
SA0	All items
SA0E	Energy
SA0L1E	All items less food and energy (core)
SAF	Food
SAF1	Food at home
SAF11	Cereals and bakery products
SAH	Housing
SAH1	Shelter
SAT	Transportation
SAM	Medical care

Examples:

CUUR0000SA0    → US city avg, unadjusted, all items
CUSR0000SA0L1E → US city avg, SA, core (ex food & energy)
CUUR0000SAF    → US city avg, unadjusted, food

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PPI — Producer Price Index (prefix: WP / PC)

• WP — PPI commodities (older series)
• PC — PPI industry data (NAICS-based, current)

Series ID (PC): PC[U][IIIIII][IIIIII]

Pos	Length	Field	Notes
1-2	2	Prefix	PC
3	1	Seasonal adj	U=unadjusted (most PPI); S=SA
4-9	6	Industry code	NAICS 6-digit
10-15	6	Product code	Product within the industry

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Helpful Discovery Commands

# All surveys
curl -s "https://api.bls.gov/publicAPI/v2/surveys" | python3 -m json.tool

# Popular series for a survey
curl -s "https://api.bls.gov/publicAPI/v2/timeseries/popular?survey=LA"

# Bulk download decode tables (e.g. LAUS area codes)
curl -s "https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.area" | head -50
curl -s "https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.measure"
curl -s "https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/ce/ce.datatype"
curl -s "https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/ce/ce.supersector"
curl -s "https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/sm/sm.state"