March 1997 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) for March 1997 was 132.0 (June 1989=100), an increase of 2.9 percent from March 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.

Quarterly changes, seasonally adjusted

On a seasonally adjusted basis, compensation costs for civilian workers (private industry plus state and local government) increased 0.6 percent during the December 1996-March 1997 period. Three-month increases in compensation costs have ranged from 0.6 to 0.9 percent for the last four years. Wages and salaries increased 0.9 percent during the December 1996-March 1997 period. The increase for the September-December 1996 period was 0.8 percent. Benefit costs increased 0.1 percent in the December 1996-March 1997 period; the same as the quarterly increase a year earlier in the December 1995-March 1996 period. In September-December 1996, these costs increased 0.7 percent.

Seasonally adjusted Unadjusted

3-months ended 12-months

Compensation June Sep. Dec. Mar. June Sep. Dec. Mar. ended

Component 1995 1995 1995 1996 1996 1996 1996 1997 Mar. 1997

This release includes annual revisions in seasonally adjusted Employment Cost Indexes for compensation costs, wages and salaries, and benefit costs. Seasonally adjusted indexes for 1992-1996 were revised to reflect updated seasonal factors and are available upon request by calling (202) 606-6199 or sending e-mail to ocltinfo@bls.gov. The seasonal factors for 1997 will be published in the Summer 1997 issue of the BLS periodical, Compensation and Working Conditions.

Compensation costs for private industry workers increased 0.6 percent during the December 1996-March 1997 period. Over the past two years, compensation increases have ranged from 0.6 to 0.9 percent in private industry. Wages and salaries increased 0.9 percent in March; in December, the increase was 0.8 percent. Benefit costs were unchanged in March. (See table 1.)

Compensation costs for state and local government workers increased 0.5 percent in the December 1996-March 1997 period compared with a 0.8 percent increase in the previous quarter. Wages and salaries, which have increased at a three-month rate of 0.6 to 0.9 percent for the last four years, rose 0.6 percent. Benefit costs increased 0.5 percent; in December, there was a 0.7 percent increase in benefit costs.

Over-the-year changes, not seasonally adjusted

Compensation costs for civilian workers (not seasonally adjusted) increased 2.9 percent for the year that ended in March 1997; such costs rose 2.8 percent during the 12-month period ended in March 1996. (See table 2.) In private industry, compensation costs increased 3.0 percent for the year that ended in March 1997. (See table 3.) In state and local government, these costs increased 2.5 percent over the year. (See table 2.)

In private industry, wages and salaries increased 3.4 percent for the 12-month period that ended in March 1997. For the year that ended in March 1996, the increase was 3.2 percent. (See table 6.) Benefit costs for private industry workers increased 2.0 percent in the year ended in March 1997, compared with an increase of 1.6 percent the previous year. Benefit cost increases have remained low because of decreases in state unemployment insurance and workers' compensation, as well as the continued moderation in health insurance costs. (See table 8 and chart A.)

Over the year ended in March 1997, compensation cost increases in private industry were 3.2 percent for white- collar workers, 2.4 percent for blue-collar workers, and 3.2 percent for service occupations. Among occupational groups, increases ranged from 1.8 percent for transportation and material moving occupations to 4.2 percent for sales occupations.

For the year ended in March 1997, compensation cost gains in private industry were 2.5 percent for goods- producing and 3.1 percent for service-producing industries. Among the specific industries, increases ranged from 0.3 percent for aircraft manufacturing (SIC 3721) to 4.2 percent for wholesale trade.

Over-the-year compensation cost increases in private industry were 3.2 percent for nonunion workers and 1.9 percent for union workers. In goods-producing industries, the difference was statistically significant, with union compensation increasing 1.6 percent and nonunion increasing 2.9 percent. In the service-producing industries, the difference was not statistically significant. (See table 4.)

ECI data for December 1995 and March 1996 were corrected from the originally published estimates. These corrections were introduced with the release of June 1996 ECI data.

Data for aircraft manufacturing (SIC 3721) that formerly appeared in table 9 now appear in the tables that cover the individual compensation components. Thus, compensation estimates appear in table 3, wages and salaries appear in table 6, and benefits appear in table 8. In each of the tables, aircraft manufacturing is listed as a subcategory of manufacturing.

BLS Data Available on the World Wide Web and Fax On Demand

ECI data, as well as other data produced by BLS, are now available on the World Wide Web. The ECI home page address is: http://stats.bls.gov/ecthome.htm. The BLS home page address is: 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.

News releases and other information are available from the BLS fax-on-demand service. To request a document fax, call 202-606-6325. To request a catalog of available documents, select option 2 at the initial voice prompt. To request data found in this news release, enter the following codes: