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Industrial Relations Library

Library of the Princeton University Industrial Relations Section

Labor Economics Juniors Workshop

PUL Data and Statistical Services

Princeton University Library Data and Statistical Services offers additional datasets regarding:

Access to these data files are restricted to currently enrolled/employed members of Princeton University.

General Sources

Labor statistics, domestic and international, can be found in Sage Data  (Princeton-only). Statistical Abstract of the United States (Princeton-only) contains relevant tables especially in Section 12: Labor Force, Employment, and Earnings.

Statistical Abstracts of the World provides tables from the statistical yearbooks of a limited number of countries. OECD iLibrary, from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, tracks primarily industrialized countries; the "Statistics" link leads to OECD.Stat datasets. The World Bank's World Development Indicators covers developed and developing nations. Eurostat provides statistics for the European Union.

Canada: E-stat. India: Indiastat. China: For China 2012+, use National Bureau of Statistics of China (Internet Explorer only).  Also, China Statistical Yearbooks Database (CNKI) has a large selection of statistical yearbooks and other statistical data published by the Chinese government including census data [English and Chinese versions]. Other international compilations, historical and subnational, can be found on the library's International Economic Statistics research guide.

Labor Statistical Sources

  • The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is the major source for data and summary statistics about various aspects of employment in the United States. In addition to the databases in General Sources above, tables compiled from BLS surveys (Current Population Survey, Local Area Unemployment Statistics, Current Employment Statistics Survey) are published in Employment and Earnings.

Annual print compilation is Handbook of U.S. Labor Statistics. Location: Data and Statistical Services (DSS) HD8051.A63, current volume; older years in Firestone Library (F) stacks and at the Stokes (SPIA) Library.

  • Key Workforce Trends (Archived, most data through 2012. Not all data available.) provides tables and charts from U.S. Employment and Training Administration (ETA) of annual statistics as far back as consistent data exist for employment, unemployment, earnings, and educational attainment. To obtain statistics for more recent years, refer to the "Source" section to identify resource used.  The ETA's Guide to State and Local Workforce Data (3rd edition) lists sources for job vacancy, unemployment and employment, occupation, credentials and skills, compensation, benefits, productivity, safety and health, labor-management (including union data), inflation and consumer expenditures, poverty and low income (including homelessness) at the sub-national level.

For international labor statistics including employment, wages, CPI, strikes, labor migration, etc., use the International Labour Organization's (ILO) ILOSTAT database. For European Union labor statistics (national and regional), also use Eurostat. Also consider the Africa-Asia Occupational Wage Database, 1870-2010.