BLSloadR (version 0.2)

get_national_ces: Get National Current Employment Statistics (CES) Data from BLS

Description

This function downloads and processes national Current Employment Statistics (CES) data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). It retrieves multiple related datasets and joins them together to create a comprehensive employment statistics dataset with industry classifications, data types, and time period information.

Usage

get_national_ces(
  monthly_only = TRUE,
  simplify_table = TRUE,
  show_warnings = FALSE,
  return_diagnostics = FALSE
)

Value

By default, returns a data.table with CES data. If return_diagnostics = TRUE, returns a bls_data_collection object containing data and comprehensive diagnostics.

Arguments

monthly_only

Logical. If TRUE (default), excludes annual averages (period "M13") and returns only monthly data. If FALSE, includes all periods including annual averages.

simplify_table

Logical. If TRUE (default), removes several metadata columns (series_title, begin_year, begin_period, end_year, end_period, naics_code, publishing_status, display_level, selectable, sort_sequence) and adds a formatted date column. If FALSE, returns the full dataset with all available columns.

show_warnings

Logical. If TRUE, displays download warnings and diagnostics. If FALSE (default), suppresses warning output.

return_diagnostics

Logical. If TRUE, returns a bls_data_collection object with full diagnostics. If FALSE (default), returns just the data table.

Details

The function downloads the following BLS CES datasets:

• ce.data.0.AllCESSeries - Main employment data

• ce.series - Series metadata

• ce.industry - Industry classifications

• ce.datatype - Data type definitions

• ce.period - Time period definitions

• ce.supersector - Supersector classifications

These datasets are joined together to provide context and labels for the employment statistics. The function uses the `fread_bls()` helper function to download and read the BLS data files with robust error handling and diagnostic reporting.

See Also

Please visit the Bureau of Labor Statistics at https://www.bls.gov/ces/ for more information about CES data

Examples

# \donttest{
# Get monthly CES data with simplified table structure
ces_monthly <- get_national_ces()

# Get all data including annual averages with full metadata
ces_full <- get_national_ces(monthly_only = FALSE, simplify_table = FALSE)

# Get monthly data but keep all metadata columns
ces_detailed <- get_national_ces(monthly_only = TRUE, simplify_table = FALSE)

# Access the data component
ces_data <- get_bls_data(ces_monthly)

# Get full diagnostic object if needed
data_with_diagnostics <- get_national_ces(return_diagnostics = TRUE)
print_bls_warnings(data_with_diagnostics)
# }