# Phase 97 Complete: US BLS Employment & Prices
## ✅ Build Summary
Phase 97 successfully implemented complete integration with the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Public Data API, providing access to critical economic indicators including CPI, PPI, Non-Farm Payrolls, wages, and productivity data.
## 📦 Deliverables
### 1. Core Module: `modules/bls.py` (619 LOC)
**Functionality:**
- Full BLS Public Data API v2 integration (api.bls.gov/publicAPI/v2)
- Consumer Price Index (CPI) - headline, core, and 8 component categories
- Producer Price Index (PPI) - final demand, core, and all commodities
- Non-Farm Payrolls (NFP) & employment by 7 sectors
- Average Hourly Earnings by 4 sectors
- Labor Productivity & Unit Labor Costs (quarterly)
- Comprehensive inflation & employment dashboards
**Key Series Tracked:**
- **CPI**: All Items, Core, Food, Housing, Gasoline, Medical, Transportation, Apparel, Education, Recreation
- **PPI**: Final Demand, Final Demand ex Food & Energy, All Commodities
- **Employment**: Total NFP, Private, Goods-Producing, Services, Retail, Information, Financial, Professional, Healthcare
- **Wages**: Private sector, Total Nonfarm, Retail Trade, Healthcare
- **Labor Market**: Unemployment Rate, Labor Force Participation
- **Productivity**: Nonfarm Business Productivity, Unit Labor Costs
### 2. CLI Integration: `cli.py`
**Added 9 Commands:**
```bash
python cli.py cpi [--components] # Consumer Price Index
python cli.py ppi # Producer Price Index
python cli.py employment [--detailed] # Non-Farm Payrolls (alias: nfp)
python cli.py wages # Average Hourly Earnings
python cli.py productivity # Labor Productivity
python cli.py inflation-summary # Quick inflation dashboard
python cli.py employment-summary # Quick employment dashboard
python cli.py bls-dashboard # Complete BLS dashboard
```
### 3. MCP Server Integration: `mcp_server.py`
**Added 8 MCP Tools:**
- `bls_cpi` - Consumer Price Index with optional component breakdown
- `bls_ppi` - Producer Price Index
- `bls_employment` - Non-Farm Payrolls with optional sector detail
- `bls_wages` - Average Hourly Earnings by sector
- `bls_productivity` - Labor Productivity & Unit Labor Costs
- `bls_inflation_summary` - Comprehensive inflation dashboard
- `bls_employment_summary` - Comprehensive employment dashboard
- `bls_dashboard` - Complete BLS dashboard (all data)
### 4. Roadmap Update
Updated `src/app/roadmap.ts`:
- Phase 97 status: `"planned"` → `"done"`
- Added LOC count: `632`
## 🧪 Test Results
### CLI Tests
**1. CPI Query:**
```bash
$ python cli.py cpi
✅ Returns headline CPI: 326.588 (Jan 2026)
✅ Returns core CPI (ex food & energy)
✅ Historical data: 24 months
✅ YoY inflation: 2.83%
```
**2. Inflation Summary:**
```bash
$ python cli.py inflation-summary
✅ Headline CPI: 2.83% YoY
✅ Core CPI: 2.95% YoY
✅ PPI: 2.02% YoY
✅ Wage growth: 3.71% YoY
✅ Real wage growth: 0.88% (wages - CPI)
✅ Component inflation rates: 8 categories
- Food: 3.23%, Housing: 3.78%, Gasoline: -7.49%
- Medical: 3.42%, Transportation: 3.64%, Apparel: 0.88%
```
**3. Employment Summary:**
```bash
$ python cli.py employment-summary
✅ Latest NFP: +130k jobs (Jan 2026)
✅ Unemployment rate: 4.0%
✅ Labor force participation: 62.5%
✅ Sector employment changes (MoM)
```
### MCP Server Tests
**1. List Tools:**
```bash
$ python mcp_server.py list-tools | jq '.tools[].name' | grep bls
✅ bls_cpi
✅ bls_ppi
✅ bls_employment
✅ bls_wages
✅ bls_productivity
✅ bls_inflation_summary
✅ bls_employment_summary
✅ bls_dashboard
```
**2. Call BLS Tool:**
```bash
$ python mcp_server.py call bls_inflation_summary '{}'
✅ Returns complete inflation data
✅ CPI: 2.83% YoY
✅ Core CPI: 2.95% YoY
✅ PPI: 2.02% YoY
✅ Wages: 3.71% YoY
✅ Real wages: 0.88%
✅ Component breakdown: 8 categories
```
## 📊 Data Sources
**BLS Public Data API v2**
- Base URL: `https://api.bls.gov/publicAPI/v2`
- Rate limits: 25 queries/day (public), 500/day (registered)
- Historical data: 10 years (public), 20 years (registered)
- Update frequency: Monthly (CPI, PPI, Employment), Quarterly (Productivity)
**Release Schedule:**
- **CPI**: Mid-month (13th-15th) for prior month
- **PPI**: Mid-month (14th-16th) for prior month
- **Employment Situation (NFP)**: First Friday of month
- **Productivity**: 6 weeks after quarter (prelim), 3 months later (revised)
## 🎯 Real-World Use Cases
1. **Inflation Tracking**: Monitor headline vs. core CPI to assess Fed policy impact
2. **Labor Market Health**: NFP + unemployment + participation rate = complete picture
3. **Real Wage Analysis**: Wage growth - CPI = consumer purchasing power
4. **Sector Analysis**: Which industries are hiring? Where are wages rising?
5. **Productivity Trends**: Labor productivity growth drives long-term economic growth
6. **Fed Policy Prediction**: CPI + NFP = two key inputs to Fed decisions
## 📈 Sample Output
**Inflation Summary (Feb 2026):**
```
Headline CPI: 2.83% YoY (target: 2.0%)
Core CPI: 2.95% YoY (more persistent)
PPI: 2.02% YoY (wholesale inflation cooling)
Wage Growth: 3.71% YoY
Real Wage Growth: +0.88% (positive = workers gaining)
Component Inflation:
Housing: +3.78% (sticky, largest CPI weight at 33%)
Food: +3.23%
Medical: +3.42%
Transportation: +3.64%
Gasoline: -7.49% (energy prices falling)
Apparel: +0.88%
```
**Employment Summary (Jan 2026):**
```
NFP: +130k jobs (MoM)
Unemployment: 4.0% (historically low)
Labor Force Participation: 62.5%
Sector Employment (MoM):
Healthcare: +45k
Professional Services: +32k
Retail Trade: +18k
Goods-Producing: +12k
```
## 🚀 Integration Points
### For QuantClaw Data Dashboard
- Add BLS economic indicator cards
- Real-time inflation tracking
- Labor market health score
- Fed policy probability calculator
### For Trading Strategies
- NFP surprise trades (first Friday volatility)
- CPI surprise → Fed policy → rate-sensitive assets
- Real wage growth → consumer spending → retail stocks
- Productivity trends → margin expansion → equity valuations
### For AI Agents
- MCP tools enable natural language queries
- "What's the latest inflation rate?" → bls_inflation_summary
- "How many jobs were added last month?" → bls_employment_summary
- "Is the labor market tight?" → analyze unemployment + participation
## 🔒 API Key (Optional)
Free registration at https://data.bls.gov/registrationEngine/ provides:
- 500 queries/day (vs 25 for public)
- 20 years of data (vs 10 for public)
- Higher priority in queue
**To enable:**
```python
# In modules/bls.py, set:
BLS_API_KEY = "your_key_here"
```
## 🎓 Technical Notes
1. **Series ID Resolution**: BLS uses numeric series IDs (e.g., "CUSR0000SA0" for CPI-U). Module maintains a mapping of human-readable names.
2. **Data Lag**: CPI/PPI released mid-month for prior month. NFP released first Friday for prior month.
3. **Revisions**: NFP is revised twice (preliminary → revised → final). CPI is rarely revised.
4. **Seasonal Adjustment**: All series use seasonally adjusted (SA) data for trend analysis.
5. **Year-over-Year Calculation**: Standard 12-month comparison to eliminate seasonality.
## 🏁 Status
- [x] BLS module created (619 LOC)
- [x] CLI commands added (9 commands)
- [x] MCP tools registered (8 tools)
- [x] Roadmap updated (Phase 97 → done, LOC: 632)
- [x] CLI tests passed
- [x] MCP server tests passed
**Phase 97: COMPLETE** ✅
## 🔮 Next Steps
**Phase 98: US Census Economic Indicators**
- Retail sales
- Housing starts & building permits
- Trade deficit
- Economic snapshot
**Phase 99: Eurostat EU Statistics**
- EU-27 GDP, HICP inflation, unemployment
- Industrial production
- SDMX API integration
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*Built by QuantClaw Data Build Agent*
*Completed: 2026-02-25*
