when was the us department of labor created
United States Department of Labor The U.S.Â Congress first established a Bureau of Labor Statistics in 1884 with the Bureau of Labor Act,[3] to collect information about labor and employment. This bureau was under the Department of the Interior. The Bureau started collecting economic data in 1884, and published their first report in 1886.[4] Later, the Bureau of Labor became an independent Department of Labor but lacked executive rank. It became a bureau again within the Department of Commerce and Labor, which was established February 15, 1903. President William Howard Taft signed the March 4, 1913 (the last day of his presidency) bill, establishing the Department of Labor as a Cabinet-level Department. William B. Wilson was appointed as the first Secretary of Labor on March 5, 1913 by President Wilson.[5] Secretary Wilson chaired the first meeting of the International Labour Organization in October 1919, even though the U.S. was not yet a member.[6]