June 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 June 1997 was 132.8 (June 1989=100), an increase of 2.8 percent from June 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 0.8 percent during the March-June 1997 period. Three-month increases in compensation costs have ranged from 0.6 to 0.9 percent for the last 4 ½ years. Wages and salaries also increased 0.8 percent during the March-June 1997 period. The increase for the December 1996-March 1997 period was 0.9 percent. Benefit costs increased 0.6 percent in the March-June 1997 period, about the same as the quarterly increases from March-December 1996. In December 1996-March 1997, these costs increased 0.1 percent.

Seasonally adjusted Unadjusted

3-months ended 12-months

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

Civilian workers

Private industry

Compensation costs for private industry workers increased 0.8 percent during the March-June 1997 period. Over the past four years, quarterly compensation increases have ranged from 0.6 to 0.9 percent in private industry. Wages and salaries increased 0.9 percent in June, the same as in the March quarter. Benefit costs increased 0.7 percent in June; in March, benefit costs were unchanged. These benefit cost changes were identical to those recorded for the March and June quarters in 1996. (See table 1.)

Compensation costs for state and local government workers increased 0.5 percent in the March-June 1997 period, the same increase as in the previous quarter. Wages and salaries, which have increased at three-month rates of 0.6 to 0.9 percent for the last 4 ½ years, rose 0.6 percent in the March-June 1997 period. Benefit costs increased 0.1 percent, down from the 0.5 percent recorded in the December-March quarter. (See table 1.)

Over-the-year changes, not seasonally adjusted

Compensation costs for civilian workers (not seasonally adjusted) increased 2.8 percent for the year ended in June 1997; such costs rose 2.9 percent during the 12-month period ended in June 1996. (See table 2.) In private industry, compensation costs increased 2.9 percent for the year ended in June 1997, the same as that recorded for the year ended in June 1996. (See table 3.) In state and local government, these costs increased 2.4 percent over the year. (See table 2.)

In private industry, wages and salaries increased 3.3 percent for the 12-month period ended in June 1997. For the year ended in June 1996, the increase was 3.4 percent. (See table 6.) Benefit costs for private industry workers increased 2.0 percent in the year ended in June 1997. For the year ended in June 1996, the increase was 1.7 percent. (See table 8 and chart A.)

Over the year ended in June 1997, compensation cost increases in private industry were 3.2 percent for white- collar workers, 2.5 percent for blue-collar workers, and 3.5 percent for service occupations. Among occupational groups, increases ranged from 1.7 percent for transportation and material moving occupations to 4.0 percent for executive, administrative, and managerial occupations. (See table 3.)

For the year ended in June 1997, compensation cost gains in private industry were 2.6 percent for goods- producing and 3.0 percent for service-producing industries. Among the specific industries, increases ranged from 0.1 percent for aircraft manufacturing (SIC 3721) to 3.9 percent for retail trade and business services. (See table 3.)

Over-the-year compensation cost increases in private industry were 3.2 percent for nonunion workers and 1.6 percent for union workers. In goods-producing industries, nonunion compensation costs increased 2.9 percent, and union compensation costs increased 1.7 percent. In the service-producing industries, nonunion compensation costs increased 3.3 percent, and union compensation costs increased 1.6 percent. (See table 4.)

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. 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: