September 1996 Employment Cost Index

Historical release narrative reproduced from the official public-domain source. Statistical tables, standard technical appendices, administrative material and attendance rosters are omitted; formatting is adapted for reading. Figures retain the release's historical context and may have been revised. Consult the linked source for the complete document.

The Employment Cost Index (ECI) increased 0.8 percent before seasonal adjustment in the three months that ended September 1996, the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. The ECI measures changes in compensation costs, which include wages, salaries, and employer costs for employee benefits. The September 1996 ECI level of 130.2 was 2.8 percent higher than the level in September 1995.

Quarterly changes, seasonally adjusted

On a seasonally adjusted basis, compensation costs for civilian workers (private industry plus state and local governments) rose 0.6 percent during the June-September 1996 period. The March-June 1996 increase was 0.8 percent. Wages and salaries increased 0.6 percent from June to September, following gains of 0.9 and 1.0 percent in the second and first quarters of 1996. Benefit costs also increased 0.6 percent in September, about the same as in June; in March, there was no change in benefit costs.

Compensation costs for private industry workers increased 0.6 percent during the June-September 1996 period. Over the past two years, compensation increases ranged from 0.6 to 0.8 percent in private industry. Wages and salaries increased 0.6 percent in September; in June, the increase was 0.9 percent. The benefits cost increase of 0.7 percent in September was the same as in June; in March, benefit costs declined 0.1 percent. (See table 1.)

Compensation costs for state and local government workers increased 0.5 percent in the June-September period. Wages and salaries increased 0.6 percent; in June, the increase was 0.8 percent. Benefit costs were unchanged from June to September compared to the 0.6 percent increase for the March-June period.

Over-the-year changes, unadjusted

Compensation costs for civilian workers (not seasonally adjusted) increased 2.8 percent for the year ended September 1996, about the same as the increase during the 12-month period that ended September 1995. (See table 2.) Compensation costs in private industry increased 2.9 percent; and state and local government rose 2.5 percent for the year that ended September 1996. (See table 3.)

For private industry, wages and salaries increased 3.3 percent for the 12-month period ended September 1996 compared with 2.8 percent for the September 1994-1995 period. (See table 6.) Benefit costs for private industry workers increased 1.8 percent, compared with 1.7 percent for the September 1994-1995 period. (See table 8.)

In private industry, over-the-year compensation cost increases were 3.2 percent for white-collar workers, 2.4 percent for blue-collar workers, and 2.2 percent for service occupations. Among occupational groups, increases ranged from 1.6 percent for transportation and material moving occupations to 3.7 percent for executive, administrative, and managerial occupations.

For the year ended September 1996, compensation cost gains in private industry were similar for goods-producing and service-producing industries. For the year ended September 1995, however, compensation costs increased more in service-producing than in goods-producing industries.

Over-the-year compensation cost increases in private industry were 2.9 percent for nonunion workers and 2.6 percent for union workers. The pattern was similar for workers in goods-producing industries where compensation costs increased 3.2 percent for nonunion workers and 2.0 percent for union workers. In service-producing industries, the opposite was true with compensation cost increases of 2.9 percent for nonunion workers and 3.3 percent for union workers. (See table 4.)

BLS Data Now Available on the World Wide Web

ECI data, as well as other data produced by BLS, are now available on the World Wide Web. To access ECI data use the address: http://stats.bls.gov/ecthome.htm. To access the BLS Home Page use: http://stats.bls.gov. There is no charge from BLS for using this service; however, there may be a charge from your Internet service provider. To access data using GOPHER or Anonymous FTP, use the Internet address: stats.bls.gov.

For technical assistance in using the BLS Internet site, send e-mail to: labstat.helpdesk@bls.gov. For ECI data requests, send e-mail to: ocltinfo@bls.gov.