BLSloadR (version 0.2)

get_salt: Download State Alternative Labor Market Measures (SALT) Data

Description

This function downloads detailed alternative unemployment measures data from BLS, including U-1 through U-6 measures. The data provides a more comprehensive view of labor market conditions beyond the standard unemployment rate (U-3).

Usage

get_salt(
  only_states = TRUE,
  geometry = FALSE,
  suppress_warnings = TRUE,
  return_diagnostics = FALSE
)

Value

By default, returns a data.table with Alternative Measures of Labor Underutilization data. If return_diagnostics = TRUE, returns a bls_data_collection object containing data and comprehensive diagnostics. The function also adds derived measures and quartile comparisons across states.

Arguments

only_states

Logical. If TRUE (default), includes only state-level data. If FALSE, includes sub-state areas like New York City where available.

geometry

Logical. If TRUE, uses tigris::states() to download shapefiles for the states to include in the data. If FALSE (default), only returns data table.

suppress_warnings

Logical. If TRUE (default), suppress individual download warnings and diagnostic messages for cleaner output during batch processing. If FALSE, returns the data and prints warnings and messages to the console.

return_diagnostics

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

Examples

# \donttest{
# Download state-level SALT data
salt_data <- get_salt()

# View top 10 highest U-6 rates by state in current data
latest <- salt_data |> 
  dplyr::filter(date == max(date)) |> 
  dplyr::select(state, u6) |> 
  dplyr::arrange(-u6)
head(latest)

# Include sub-state areas
salt_all <- get_salt(only_states = FALSE)
 
# Download SALT with geometry included
get_salt(geometry = TRUE)

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