Attachment E - API and Web Scraping Pamphlet

U.S. Bureau of
L abor Statistics

BLS National and Regional Offices
Washington, DC

Bureau of Labor Statistics
2 Massachusetts Avenue, NE
Washington, DC 20212
(202) 691-7000
CPI_info@bls.gov

Atlanta

Bureau of Labor Statistics
61 Forsyth Street, SW, Room 7T50
Atlanta, GA 30303
(404) 893-4222
BLSInfoAtlanta@bls.gov

Boston

Bureau of Labor Statistics
JFK Federal Building, E-310
Boston, MA 02203
(617) 565-2327
BLSInfoBoston@bls.gov

Chicago

Bureau of Labor Statistics
J.C. Kluczynski Federal Office Building
230 South Dearborn Street, Room 960
Chicago, IL 60604
(312) 353-1880
BLSInfoChicago@bls.gov

Dallas

Bureau of Labor Statistics
525 South Griffin Street, Room 221
Dallas, TX 75202
(972) 850-4800
BLSInfoDallas@bls.gov

Kansas City

Bureau of Labor Statistics
Two Pershing Square Building
2300 Main Street, Suite 1190
Kansas City, MO 64108(816) 285-7000
BLSInfoKansasCity@bls.gov

New York

Bureau of Labor Statistics
New York-New Jersey Information Office
201 Varick Street, Room 808
New York, NY 10014
(646) 264-3600
BLSInfoNY@bls.gov

Philadelphia

Bureau of Labor Statistics
Suite 610 East – The Curtis Center
170 South Independence Mall West
Philadelphia, PA 19106
(215) 597-3282
BLSInfoPhiladelphia@bls.gov

The Consumer Price Index

Modernizing
Data Collection:
APIs & Web Scraping

San Francisco

Bureau of Labor Statistics
90 7th Street, Suite 14-100
San Francisco, CA 94103
(415) 625-2270
BLSInfoSF@bls.gov

Questions?

If you have any questions or comments
regarding any aspect of the survey, you
may contact:

Division of Consumer Prices
and Price Indexes

Bureau of Labor Statistics
2 Massachusetts Avenue, NE
Washington, DC 20212
call (202) 691-6991, or email: CPI_info@bls.gov.
The U.S. Office of Management and
Budget (OMB) has approved this
collection of information and has
assigned 1220 - 0 039 as the control
number. Without OMB approval and
this number, we would not be able to
conduct this sur vey.

bls.gov | 

@BLS_gov

What is the CPI?
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a measure
of the average change over time in the prices
paid by urban consumers for a market basket of
goods and services. The CPI is one of the most
closely watched Principal Federal Economic
Indicators (PFEIs) produced by the U.S. Bureau of
Labor Statistics (BLS). Some of the people who
follow the CPI closely include landlords (to help
them calculate changes in rental prices), Social
Security recipients (to anticipate their next costof-living adjustment), and Wall Street financial
institutions and traders (to determine potential
moves of the stock and bond markets).
To continue to produce high quality data, the
CPI is looking to supplement traditional survey
collection with more modernized methods.
While the BLS already includes prices for goods
and services purchased online, the CPI is
exploring APIs and web scraping - extracting
data directly from websites. APIs and web
scraping are efficient and cost-effective
methods of collection that will make it even
easier for businesses and organizations to
participate in CPI surveys.

How can I see CPI data?
Information is always available on the BLSCPI homepage at www.bls.gov/cpi/home.
htm. New CPI data appear in a news
release usually issued between the 10th and
15th of the month, reporting the data for
the previous month. Also at this time, CPI
data is reported in various media, such as
television, newspapers, and public websites.

APIs & Web Scraping

Voluntary Nature

APIs and web scraping methods are part of
a broader effort to make participation in CPI
surveys even easier while continuing to provide
high-quality data in a timely and cost-effective
manner.

Data collection for the CPI will not pursue
any web scraping activities unless
permission has been granted. The agency
will engage in this activity in a responsible
and transparent manner. BLS will take steps
to make sure CPI data collection programs
have minor impact on the website by
limiting the time of day to execute web
scraping programs, number of fetches per
hour/day, time interval between requests,
and type of data extracted.

What are APIs?
Some establishments provide Application
Programming Interfaces (APIs) to allow
partners to access information on their
website. Data collection through an API is
often easier and more straight-forward than
maintaining web scraping code over time.
By entering certain parameters, such as SKU
code and store address, APIs can identify
specific products and prices.

What is web scraping?
Web scraping is a process through which
information is gathered and copied from the
web for analysis. Web scraping uses software
that simulates human web surfing to collect
existing information from a company’s
website without website disruption.

Why use APIs and web scraping?
Enhance the ease of participating
in CPI surveys by saving businesses and
organizations time and resources.



Utilize high-speed methods to
acquirelarge volumes of information
amassing more data than staff collecting
individually could possibly document.



This report is authorized by law, 29
U.S.C.2. Your voluntary cooperation is
needed to make the results of this survey
comprehensive, accurate, and timely.

Your participation is confidential.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics, its employees,
agents, and partner statistical agencies will
use the information you provide for statistical
purposes only and will hold the information
in confidence to the full extent permitted by
law.
In accordance with the Confidential
Information Protection and Statistical
Efficiency Act (44 U.S.C. 3572) and other
applicable Federal laws, your responses
will not be disclosed in identifiable form
without your informed consent. Per the
Federal Cybersecurity Enhancement Act
of 2015, Federal information systems are
protected from malicious activities through
cybersecurity screening of transmitted
data.