The Better Labor Statistics Act mandates the monthly online publication of Bureau of Labor Statistics reports, requiring the inclusion of comprehensive demographic data broken down by geography, race, ethnicity, and gender.
Ayanna Pressley
Representative
MA-7
The Better Labor Statistics (BLS) Act modernizes the Bureau of Labor Statistics' reporting requirements by mandating the monthly online publication of labor data. It ensures greater transparency and inclusivity by requiring that all reports include detailed unemployment statistics broken down by geography, race, ethnicity, and gender. Additionally, the bill updates outdated statutory language to improve the clarity and efficiency of the Department of Labor’s reporting duties.
Better Labor Statistics Act Mandates Detailed Monthly Jobs Data and Online Transparency Starting Immediately.
The Better Labor Statistics (BLS) Act is essentially a digital-age tune-up for how the government tracks your livelihood. Currently, the Secretary of Labor has a fair amount of 'discretionary' power regarding how and when labor stats are shared. This bill flips the switch from 'maybe' to 'must,' changing the Secretary’s duty to a mandatory requirement to collate and publicly report labor statistics online by the first Friday of every month. It also forces the Department of Labor to stop using outdated, 1913-era phrasing, swapping out gendered language like 'he' and 'his' for the more professional 'the Secretary' and 'Department of Labor.'
Data for the Real World
One of the biggest shifts in this bill is the requirement for granular demographic data. Under the new rules, every labor report must include unemployment figures broken down by geography, race, ethnicity, and gender (amending Public Law 94-311). For a small business owner in a specific region or a community leader trying to understand why local unemployment isn't dropping as fast as the national average, this is a game-changer. Instead of broad, sweeping national numbers that might not reflect what’s happening on your block, the Department of Labor will be legally required to show the receipts on who is working and where they are located.
Digital Transparency and Accountability
By mandating that these reports hit the internet on a strict schedule—the first Friday of the month—the bill removes the guesswork for researchers and regular citizens alike. It ensures that data isn't buried in a physical filing cabinet or released at the convenience of a political appointee. For the software coder or the trade worker, this means more reliable, high-frequency data that can be used to track economic trends in real-time. The bill also directs the Law Revision Counsel to officially rename the relevant section of the U.S. Code to 'Unemployment data relating to individual demographics,' making it easier for anyone to find and cite these protections in the future.