U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Department of Labor Logo United States Department of Labor
Dot gov

The .gov means it's official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you're on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Bureau of Labor Statistics > Office of Survey Methods Research > Publications > Browse Research Papers

Researcher Access To Confidential Microdata At The Bureau Of Labor Statistics

Virginia A. de Wolf

Abstract

The Bureau of Labor Statistics' (BLS) mission is to gather, produce, analyze, and disseminate information on economic statistics. The bulk of the economic data that BLS collects is from business establishments. Most BLS economic data are collected under a pledge of confidentiality. Since staff cannot conduct all necessary (and possible) analyses on the data that BLS collects, the agency sometimes relies on other researchers (non-BLS staff) to do such work. The risk of re-identifying confidential data collected from establishments limits the access to these data (for instance, public-use microdata files are rarely released). BLS has developed a set of procedures to enable access to confidential microdata on-site at its national office in Washington, D.C., for legitimate research purposes. This paper summarizes that process. A brief description of BLS's confidentiality policy is also included.