Overview of BLS Statistics by Geography

Most BLS programs publish data at the national level. Some programs also publish data for smaller geographic areas, allowing focus on regional, state, or local trends.

For example, BLS publishes separate unemployment rates for the United States, for Texas, and for San Antonio. We also have a national wage rate for registered nurses, as well as wage rates for registered nurses in California and in Los Angeles.

The BLS Geographic Guide is an easy to use matrix showing data availability by geographic coverage.

BLS Statistics with geographic detail:

State and Local Employment

The Current Employment Statistics (CES) program provides detailed industry data on employment, hours, and earnings of workers on nonfarm payrolls for all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and over 400 metropolitan areas and divisions.

State and Local Unemployment

The Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) program produces monthly and annual employment, unemployment, and labor force data for geographic regions and divisions, states, counties, metropolitan areas, and many cities, by place of residence. Monthly unemployment statistics for states, counties, and metropolitan areas are available in map format; see Create Customized Maps (Unemployment Rates).

State and County Employment and Wages

The Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages program produces data for Census regions and divisions, states, counties, metropolitan areas, and many cities, by place of employment.

Geographic Profile

The Geographic Profile of Employment and Unemployment contains information from the Current Population Survey (CPS) for regions and divisions, 50 states and the District of Columbia. Data are provided on the employed and unemployed by selected demographic and economic characteristics.

Job Openings and Labor Turnover

The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey publishes data each month on the number and rate of job openings, hires, and separations (broken out by quits, layoffs and discharges, and other separations). These data are available at the national level and for the four large geographic regions—Northeast, Midwest, South, and West. In May 2019 the program began publishing experimental state estimates for the first time, and the estimates are updated each quarter. The program also has produced a one-time set of research estimates for the 18 largest metropolitan statistical areas, those with 1.5 million or more employees, covering 2001 to 2019.

Consumer Price Index

Consumer price indexes are available for four broad geographic regions, size of city distinctions, a region and city size-class cross classification, and 27 Metropolitan Statistical Areas.

Consumer Spending

The Consumer Expenditure Survey produces spending data by various demographic characteristics for the four geographic regions and selected Metropolitan Statistical Areas.

Labor Productivity and Costs

In June 2019, BLS began publishing experimental state labor productivity and cost measures for the private nonfarm sector starting in 2007. These measures include output per hour, output, hours, unit labor costs, hourly compensation, and real hourly compensation.

Safety and Health Statistics

Nonfatal occupational injuries and illnesses data from the Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses are produced for participating states.
The total number of fatal occupational injuries occurring each year are reported in the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI). These data are available for major industry divisions and occupations by region, state, and Consolidated Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Wages by Area and Occupation

Wage data are available by occupation for the nation, regions, states, and many metropolitan areas. Wage data by area and occupation are from the Occupational Employment Statistics Survey and the Modeled Wage Estimates.

 

 

Last Modified Date: September 1, 2020