The general design and duties of the Bureau of Labor Statistics shall be to acquire and diffuse among the people of the United States useful information on subjects connected with labor, in the most general and comprehensive sense of that word, and especially upon its relation to capital, the hours of labor, the earnings of laboring men and women, and the means of promoting their material, social, intellectual, and moral prosperity.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics, under the direction of the Secretary of Labor, shall collect, collate, and report at least once each year, or oftener if necessary, full and complete statistics of the conditions of labor and the products and distribution of the products of the same, and to this end said Secretary shall have power to employ any or either of the bureaus provided for his department and to rearrange such statistical work, and to distribute or consolidate the same as may be deemed desirable in the public interests; and said Secretary shall also have authority to call upon other departments of the Government for statistical data and results obtained by them; and said Secretary of Labor may collate, arrange, and publish such statistical information so obtained in such manner as to him may seem wise.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics shall also collect, collate, report, and publish at least once each month full and complete statistics of the volume of and changes in employment, as indicated by the number of persons employed, the total wages paid, and the total hours of employment, in the service of the Federal Government, the States and political subdivisions thereof, and in the following industries and their principal branches: (1) Manufacturing; (2) mining, quarrying, and crude petroleum production; (3) building construction; (4) agriculture and lumbering; (5) transportation, communication, and other public utilities; (6) the retail and wholesale trades; and such other industries as the Secretary of Labor may deem it in the public interest to include. Such statistics shall be reported for all such industries and their principal branches throughout the United States and also by States and/or Federal reserve districts and by such smaller geographical subdivisions as the said Secretary may from time to time prescribe. The said Secretary is authorized to arrange with any Federal, State, or municipal bureau or other governmental agency for the collection of such statistics in such manner as he may deem satisfactory, and may assign special agents of the Department of Labor to any such bureau or agency to assist in such collection.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics of the United States Department of Labor is authorized and directed to make continuing studies of productivity and labor costs in the manufacturing, mining, transportation, distribution, and other industries.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics shall be under the charge of a Commissioner of Labor Statistics, who shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate; he shall hold his office for four years, unless sooner removed, and shall receive a salary.

It shall be the duty of the Commissioner of Labor Statistics to ascertain the effect of the customs laws, and the effect thereon of the state of the currency, in the United States, on the agricultural industry, especially as to its effect on mortgage indebtedness of farmers. He shall also establish a system of reports by which, at intervals of not less than two years, he can report the general condition, so far as production is concerned, of the leading industries of the country. He is also specially charged to investigate the causes of, and facts relating to, all controversies and disputes between employers and employees as they may occur, and which may tend to interfere with the welfare of the people of the different States. He shall also obtain such information upon the various subjects committed to him as he may deem desirable from different foreign nations, and what, if any, convict-made goods are imported into this country, and if so from whence.

The Commissioner of Labor Statistics is authorized to prepare and publish a bulletin of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, as to the condition of labor in this and other countries, condensations of State and foreign labor reports, facts as to conditions of employment, and such other facts as may be deemed of value to the industrial interests of the country.

The Commissioner of Labor Statistics shall annually make a report in writing to the President and Congress, of the information collected and collated by him, and containing such recommendations as he may deem calculated to promote the efficiency of the department. He is also authorized to make special reports on particular subjects whenever required to do so by the President or either House of Congress, or when he shall think the subjects in his charge require it. He shall, on or before the 15th day of March in each year, make a report in detail to Congress of all moneys expended under his direction during the preceding fiscal year.

The Department of Labor, in cooperation with the Department of Commerce, shall develop methods for improving and expanding the collection, analysis, and publication of unemployment data relating to Americans of Spanish origin or descent.