Commissioner's Corner
Welcome to the Commissioner's Corner. The BLS is the principal Federal agency responsible for measuring labor market activity, working conditions, and price changes in the economy. The Bureau operates more than two dozen surveys and programs that measure employment and unemployment, compensation, worker safety, productivity, price trends, consumer spending patterns, and Americans' use of time.
The BLS website provides a wealth of information on these surveys and programs; you should visit it often to keep informed about new BLS data and products. The Commissioner's Corner provides information on the many other areas in which BLS is involved and highlights our testimony before Congressional committees, public speeches by BLS leadership, awards and recognitions, and outstanding new products on the BLS website.
John M. Galvin
Acting Commissioner
Bureau of Labor Statistics
February 3, 2012
Here is a link to Acting Commissioner Galvin's statement on the January employment situation news release, which he delivered before the Congressional Joint Economic Committee.
February 2, 2012
Since July 2009 the Bureau of Labor Statistics has measured customer satisfaction with the BLS website using the American Customer Satisfaction Index. BLS will use this information to identify areas for improvements. A summary of the results for July 2009 through June 2011 reveals that Site Performance and Content scored highly, while Navigation and Search are areas most in need of improvement. Thank you to everyone who has completed a survey when you have visited the BLS website.
February 1, 2012
Today BLS published its 2010–20 projections of employment by occupation and industry, as well as for the labor force and overall economy. These projections show that occupations and industries related to health care, personal care and social assistance, and construction are expected to have the fastest job growth between 2010 and 2020. Total employment is projected to grow by 14.3 percent over the decade, resulting in 20.5 million new jobs. Despite rapid projected growth, construction is not expected to regain all of the jobs lost during the 2007–09 recession. The new projections are at www.bls.gov/emp.
These projections are the first to incorporate a new BLS system that depicts education, training, and related work experience typically needed for occupations. The results show, for example, that in occupations in which a master's degree is typically needed for entry, employment is expected to grow by 21.7 percent—faster than the growth rate for any other education category. In occupations in which apprenticeship is the typical on-the-job training, employment is expected to grow by 22.5 percent, faster than for any other on-the-job training category.
The BLS projections are widely used by high school students and their teachers and parents, college students, career changers, and career development and guidance specialists. Federal agencies, researchers, and academics also use the projections to understand trends in the economy and labor market. State workforce agencies use the BLS projections to prepare State and area projections that are used by policymakers and education and training officials to make decisions about education and training policy, funding, and program offerings.
The winter 2011–12 issue of the Occupational Outlook Quarterly, also published today, provides a graphic presentation of the projections. It is available at www.bls.gov/ooq.
The projections are also the foundation of the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, the nation's most widely used career information resource. The 2012–13 edition of the Handbook, to be published online in late March, will be the first using a "made-for-the-web" design and improved search tools. Watch for the announcement about the new Handbook at www.bls.gov/ooh.
Keith Hall was Commissioner from January 2008 to January 2012.
January 6, 2012
Here is a link to Keith Hall's statement on the December employment situation news release.
December 2, 2011
Here is a link to Keith Hall's statement on the November employment situation news release.
November 4, 2011
Here is a link to Keith Hall's statement on the October employment situation news release, which he delivered before the Congressional Joint Economic Committee (JEC).
October 7, 2011
Here is a link to Keith Hall's statement on the September employment situation news release.
September 2, 2011
Here is a link to Keith Hall's statement on the August employment situation news release.
August 5, 2011
Here is a link to Keith Hall's statement on the July employment situation news release.
July 11, 2011
Here is a link to Keith Hall's statement on the June employment situation news release.
June 6, 2011
Here is a link to Keith Hall's statement on the May employment situation news release.
May 6, 2011
Here is a link to Keith Hall's statement on the April employment situation, which he delivered before the Congressional Joint Economic Committee (JEC).
April 14, 2011
A new data visualization tool for international data is now available from BLS. The dynamic dashboards of the Division of International Labor Comparisons (ILC) allow you to visualize trends instantly. The customer simply chooses the indicator, the countries, and the years, and the charts appear. Currently, ILC has posted three dashboards that you can access as follows:
View the ILC homepage at www.bls.gov/ilc.
April 1, 2011
Here is a link to Keith Hall's statement on the March employment situation, which he delivered before the Congressional Joint Economic Committee (JEC).
March 4, 2011
Here is a link to Keith Hall's statement on the February employment situation news release.
February 4, 2011
Here is a link to Keith Hall's statement on the January employment situation news release.
January 7, 2011
Here is a link to my statement on the December employment situation news release.
December 7, 2010
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) recently completed work on a five year strategic plan.
Our last strategic plan was developed in 1996 in accordance with the Government Performance and Results Act. However, in past years, the Bureau’s strategic plan was considered to be within the Department of Labor (DOL) strategic plan. While we are part of the Department, our mission is very different from DOL and its other Bureaus.
As an independent statistical agency, BLS serves its customers and stakeholders by providing products and services that are objective, timely, accurate, and relevant. We follow OMB policies that ensure our production of these critically important statistics, and our analysis and dissemination of those statistics, occur free of political influence.
We felt it was time once again to develop our own strategic plan that recognizes the unique nature of what we do. It reflects extensive input from agency customers and other external stakeholders.
The plan details how BLS will meet the information needs of a rapidly changing U.S. and global economy by continuously improving our products and services, investing in our work force and modernizing our business process.
Below you will find a link to the strategic plan, which outlines how we will meet the challenges and opportunities we face.
Also, here is a link to Keith Hall's statement on the November employment situation news release.
November 9, 2010
Here is a link to Keith Hall's statement on the October employment situation news release.
October 8, 2010
Here is a link to Keith Hall's statement on the September employment situation.
September 3, 2010
Here is a link to Keith Hall's statement on the August employment situation.
August 6, 2010
Here is a link to Keith Hall's statement on the July employment situation, which he delivered before the Congressional Joint Economic Committee (JEC).
July 15, 2010
Following is a link to a presentation on "The Future of Data Collection, Access and Dissemination." Along with Associate Commissioner Michael Horrigan (Office of Prices and Living Conditions), Commissioner Hall gave the presentation at the annual meeting of the Population Association of America during April 2010 in Dallas, TX.
Commissioner Hall was part of a panel that discussed the challenges and opportunities in data collection, access and dissemination. Other panel members included, Dr. Steve Landefeld, Director of the Bureau of Economic Analysis; Dr. Robert Groves, Director of the Census Bureau; Dr. Nancy Potok, Deputy Under Secretary for the Economics and Statistics Administration, Department of Commerce; and John Thompson, President of The National Opinion Research Center (NORC).
Also, here is a link to Keith Hall's statement on the June employment situation.
June 4, 2010
Here is a link to Keith Hall's statement on the May employment situation.
May 21, 2010
We've released another new product!! Focus on Prices and Spending is a series of BLS reports that include data from the Consumer Price Index (CPI), Producer Price Index (PPI), International Price (IPP), and Consumer Expenditure Survey (CE) programs. These quarterly reports supplement the regular monthly (or annual in the case of the Consumer Expenditure Survey) press releases produced by each program and highlight recent trends in inflation and spending in the U.S. economy.
Recently released reports for the first quarter of 2010 include the following:
- Consumer Expenditure Survey (HTML) (PDF)
- Consumer Price Index (HTML) (PDF)
- Producer Price Indexes (HTML) (PDF)
- Import and Export Prices (HTML) (PDF)
In recent months, we've also published some additional items of interest.
First, a short article from the Employment and Unemployment Statistics program examining the number of unemployed persons per job opening during recessions.
Second, fact sheets highlighting injuries and employment in the oil and gas industry.
Finally, the following chartbook explores how key labor market and other national economic measurements compare across countries.
May 7, 2010
Here is a link to Keith Hall's statement on the April employment situation, which he delivered before the Congressional Joint Economic Committee (JEC).
April 2, 2010
Spring is in the air!! And, more good news, BLS has recently published some new items.
First, a short article from the Business Employment Dynamics program examines the impact of the current recession on small and large firms.
Second, a new issue of Program Perspectives takes a closer look at paid sick leave benefits, including both the percentage of employees with access to paid sick leave benefits and employer costs for sick leave.
Finally, BLS just conducted its very first web chat on today's employment situation release. If you missed the chat this morning, you can view a transcript of the discussion. And here is a link to Keith Hall's statement on the March employment situation.
March 8, 2010
A few notable BLS publications of recent months may be of interest. If you haven't seen them yet, click on the links.
First, one that combines data from BLS, the Census Bureau, and the Energy Information Administration of the Department of Energy in an analysis of recent job losses in the trucking industry.
Second, the number of major work stoppages, number of workers involved, and number of lost workdays in 2009 were all record lows in a data series that begins in 1947. This "Editor's Desk" feature has a chart, and a link to the related news release.
Finally, Happy Birthday to the Consumer Expenditure survey, which has been working to record changes in consumer spending patterns for three decades. This webpage has charts showing the changes in consumer spending for food, shelter, gasoline, vehicles, apparel, and other consumer basics since the 1980s.
Also, here is a link to Keith Hall's statement on the February employment situation.
March 3, 2010
Here is a link to Keith Hall's statement on the January employment situation.
January 8, 2010
Here is a link to Keith Hall's statement on the December employment situation.
December 23, 2009
Every two years, the BLS releases projection data for the labor market as a whole 10 years into the future. There are several additional products that go along with this release, including career guide information and articles featured in the Monthly Labor Review and Occupational Outlook Quarterly. Check out this wealth of information:
December 10, 2009
Have you ever wondered how wages of those who are compensated by commission or other incentive pay impact total wage measures? You can find some interesting analysis on this subject in the article "The Effect of Incentive Pay on Rates of Change in Wages and Salaries".
Elementary and secondary school counselors earn higher wages than counselors working in individual and family services and vocational services. You can view this and even more information in the most recent chart book from the Occupational Employment program.
Lastly, here is a link to Keith Hall's statement on the November employment situation, which he delivered before the Congressional Joint Economic Committee (JEC).
November 27, 2009
As we head into late fall, the debate in Congress over health care continues. BLS has a wealth of data on health care, ranging from employment and compensation for heath care workers, to how much it costs to provide health care. Check out our Spotlight on Statistics on Health care to see what BLS data can say about this important topic.
The current recession is unprecedented in terms of how broad the job loss has been. Please see some new analysis of the current recession from the Occupational Employment program "An Occupational Analysis of Industries with the Most Job Losses".
The Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) program released an analysis on the hazards faced by our resident military.
Lastly, here is a link to Keith Hall's statement on the October employment situation, which he delivered before the Congressional Joint Economic Committee (JEC).
October 19, 2009
Here is a link to Keith Hall's statement on the September employment situation, which he delivered before the Congressional Joint Economic Committee (JEC).
September 4, 2009
Many people (perhaps even a few here at BLS headquarters in Washington, D.C.) would be surprised at the volume of publications that come out of the BLS Regional Offices. BLS issues, on average, about 65 news releases each month, and about 50 of these are produced by the Regional Offices. Each of the eight Regional Offices covers a multi-state area and regularly produces news releases, data tables, and other publications that provide insight into employment, unemployment, earnings, prices, and other economic phenomena at the state or metropolitan area level.
The Western BLS Information Office in San Francisco recently published an interesting Regional Report on employment and wages over the 2001–2008 period in Silicon Valley.
Here is a link to Keith Hall's statement on the August employment situation.
August 7, 2009
Here is a link to Keith Hall's statement on the July employment situation, which he delivered before the Congressional Joint Economic Committee (JEC) today.
July 23, 2009
As has been mentioned in this space, the BLS recently turned 125. We were privileged to have several of Washington's leading policy makers and Bureau supporters join us for the Anniversary celebration on June 26th in the lobby of the Postal Square Building. They included our own Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke, Chairman Christina Romer of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, and Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, Chair of the Joint Economic Committee. They each spoke on the importance of the Bureau's work and their support of our continuing mission to provide impartial, timely, and accurate data to policy makers, business leaders, workers, and many others to help them make sound decisions. Following their remarks, we were joined by two of our distinguished former Commissioners, Janet Norwood and Kathleen Utgoff, for a panel discussion on the Bureau and its history and mission.
Here is a portion of the remarks delivered by Chairman Bernanke:
"Over its 125 years, the BLS has built a reputation for providing timely and accurate economic information. The close relationship that the bureau's economists and statisticians maintain with researchers--both those in government and in academia--cultivates that exemplary performance. Researchers' insights have led to better analysis and higher quality data. Moreover, the bureau is committed to undertaking the innovations and improvements necessary to ensure that its economic statistics effectively measure and provide insight into an ever-changing economy."
Dr. Bernanke's remarks in their entirety are available on the Federal Reserve website at www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/speech/bernanke20090626a.htm. BLS thanks Chairman Bernanke and our other special guests for their participation at this important event.
Also related to the 125th Anniversary event, here are the closing comments prepared by Keith Hall:
Closing comments by Commissioner Hall at the 125th Anniversary celebration
As I close this portion of our program, I want reflect for a moment on the founding and the growth of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The Bureau was born during the recessions of the 1880s.
Its mission was to "… collect information upon the subject of labor, its relation to capital, the hours of labor, and the earnings of laboring men and women, and the means of promoting their material, social, intellectual, and moral prosperity." The information was to be published annually. The Bureau had a total budget of $25,000 per year.
The first Commissioner, Carroll D. Wright, and a hand full of employees set out in 1885 to survey American labor. The first report was published in March of 1886 and was entitled "The Industrial Depressions in the United States."
Commissioner Wright wrote:
"From the observations of the agents of the bureau and from other sources from which it has been possible to form conclusions, it is undoubtedly true that out of the total number of establishments, such as factories, mines, etc., existing in the country, about 5 percent were absolutely idle during 1885, and that perhaps 5 percent more were idle a part of the time; or, for a just estimate, 7 ½ percent of the whole number of such establishments were idle or equivalent to idle during the past year."
Commissioner Wright went on to detail the Bureau's estimate of the unemployed in 1885 ... 998,839 workers ... the loss to the "consumptive power of the country" ... $1 million per day ... and a crippling of the trade of the country ... $300 million per year ... the wages lost to "the people involved" in those unemployed classes ... $600 each per annum ... and more.
The American workforce and economy are far different now than at the founding of the Bureau. Through the years we have grown as America has grown, and worked to keep pace with our ever changing world. BLS has been a leader in pioneering, refining and disseminating critical measures of employment and employment, compensation and benefits, workplace safety, productivity, and consumer and producer prices.
Today we have 24 programs and surveys that collect data across the broad field of labor economics. We have a highly trained staff of economists, statisticians, information technologists and data collectors in locations across the nation.
Our work on behalf of the American people would not be possible without you, our dedicated employees, who manage those programs and surveys. This celebration of our 125th Anniversary is as much for you as it is the Bureau. As Commissioner, I thank you for your service to the Bureau and the Nation.
Finally, here are links to Keith Hall's statements on the May and June employment situation news releases. The statement for May was delivered before the Congressional Joint Economic Committee (JEC), the one for June was not as Congress was in recess for the July 4th holiday.
June 26, 2009
The Bureau of Labor Statistics turns 125 this month! BLS is marking this anniversary in a number of ways.
A Monthly Labor Review article, "BLS at 125," by Associate Commissioner Bill Wiatrowski was posted today. In this article, Bill reviews a set of core principles that have guided BLS for one and a quarter centuries, including commitment to objectivity, fairness and impartiality; concern for respondents; and relevance to current economic and social conditions.
Yesterday, an issue of BLS Spotlight on Statistics was posted in honor of the 125th anniversary. This Spotlight takes a look at a sample of prominent BLS products. You may be surprised to find out how far back some of the numbers go. For example, the Consumer Price Index extends back nearly 100 years, to the World War I era. Payroll employment statistics for the nonfarm sector date back to 1939 and show that such employment has increased by about 100 million since then.
May 8, 2009
Below you will find a link to Keith Hall's testimony on the April 2009 employment situation delivered before the Congressional Joint Economic Committee (JEC) this morning:
Yesterday, the President's Budget for Fiscal Year 2010 was released. The 2010 President's Budget for BLS includes funds to develop new series on "green-collar" jobs, addressing the need for detailed data on these rapidly evolving industries and occupations.
A new paper is available from BLS, "Ranks of Discouraged Workers and Others Marginally Attached to the Labor Force Rise During Recession." This paper shows how the number of persons who were marginally attached to the labor force increased sharply during the current recession.
April 3, 2009
Here are links to Keith Hall's testimony on the March 2009 employment situation delivered before the Congressional Joint Economic Committee (JEC) on Friday, April 3, 2009, as well as his JEC testimony on the February 2009 employment data. Below you will find a link to his testimony delivered on Wednesday, March 25, 2009, before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies hearing on "Raising Wages and Living Standards for Families and Workers."
Recently a reporter with The Washington Post.com spent part of a day with two of the Bureau's economists as they compiled data for the March employment report. (Of course, the reporter was not permitted to see any of the actual March employment data on that day, because of the strict BLS standards regarding the handling of data prior to release.) If you are interested in seeing the work of BLS staff, please visit the the Federal Eye blog on the WashingtonPost.com website to find out about a day in the life of our economists.
Last Modified Date: February 1, 2012
