< The Latest 2025-08-31T01:39:20+0000
The Pasadena Star-News | Sat 08/30 06:38pm PST | Kurt Snibbe
Since Monday is Labor Day here’s a look at the federal department that was created to study labor and give the American people statistics.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics is an agency of the U. S. Department of Labor. It is the principal fact-finding agency in the broad field of labor economics and statistics and serves as part of the U.S. Federal Statistical System. The Bureau of Labor Statistics collects, calculates, analyzes and publishes data essential to the public, employers, researchers and government organizations.
Mission statement
The Bureau of Labor Statistics measures labor market activity, working conditions, price changes and productivity in the U.S. economy to support public and private decision making.
Earlier this month
President Donald Trump fired a top Labor Department official on the heels of a market-shocking weak scorecard of the U.S. job market, accusing her without evidence of manipulating the figures and adding to already growing concerns about the quality of economic data published by the federal government.
A Reuters poll in July found 89 of 100 top policy experts had at least some worries about the quality of U.S. economic data, with most also concerned that authorities are not addressing the issue urgently enough.
Notable events in BLS history
You can learn more about the consumer price index at the Bureau of Labor Statistics site here.
Labor Day history
The first Labor Day holiday was celebrated on Sept. 5, 1882, in New York City. It was not a federal holiday until June 28, 1894. Congress passed an act making the first Monday in September of each year a legal holiday.
You can learn more about the history of the holiday on the Bureau of Labor site.
Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Reuters, The Associated Press