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The Employment Cost Index (not seasonally adjusted) for December 2000 was 150.6 (June 1989=100), an increase of 4.1 percent from December 1999, the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. The Employment Cost Index (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, the 3-month increase in compensation costs for civilian workers (nonfarm private industry plus State and local government) was 0.8 percent during the September-December 2000 period, following a gain of 0.9 percent in June-September 2000. Wages and salaries increased 0.7 percent during the September-December period, following a 0.8 percent increase in the previous 3-month period. Benefit costs rose 0.8 percent during the December quarter, following a 1.0 percent increase in the September quarter.
The 3-month increase in compensation costs for private industry workers was 0.7 percent during the September-December 2000 period. The gain in wages and salaries was 0.7 percent in the quarter ended in December; in the September quarter, it was 0.9 percent. Benefit costs showed a 3-month rise of 0.9 percent during the December quarter, compared with a 1.1 percent gain during the September quarter. (See tables A and 1.)
Compensation costs for State and local government workers increased 0.8 percent during the September-December 2000 period; in the September period, the increase was 0.6 percent. Wages and salaries rose 0.8 percent in the quarter ended in December, the same increase as the previous two quarters. Benefit costs rose 0.8 percent in the December quarter, compared with 0.1 percent in the September quarter.
Over-the-year changes, not seasonally adjusted
Compensation costs for civilian workers (not seasonally adjusted) increased 4.1 percent for the 12 months ended in December 2000. This compares with smaller over-the-year increases of 3.4 percent in both December 1999 and December 1998. Compensation costs in private industry rose 4.4 percent in the year ended December 2000, compared with increases of 3.4 percent in December 1999 and 3.5 percent in December 1998. In State and local government, compensation costs increased 3.0 percent for the year ended December 2000; over-the-year increases were 3.4 percent in December 1999 and 3.0 percent in December 1998. (See tables B, 2, and 3.)
Nonfarm private industry
In private industry, wages and salaries rose 3.9 percent for the year ended December 2000, after increasing 3.5 percent in the year ended December 1999. (See tables B and 6.) Benefit costs for private industry workers increased 5.6 percent for the year ended in December 2000, a significant increase from 3.4 percent in December 1999. (See chart A and tables B and 8.)
In private industry, over-the-year compensation cost increases were 4.6 percent for white-collar occupations, 4.2 percent for blue-collar occupations, and 3.9 percent for service occupations. Among the occupational groups, increases in compensation costs ranged from 3.8 percent for machine operators, assemblers, and inspectors to 4.9 percent for administrative support, including clerical occupations. (See table 3.)
For the year ended December 2000, the compensation cost increase was 4.4 percent for both goods-producing and service-producing industries, compared with 3.4 percent increases for both industries for the year ended December 1999. Among service-producing industry divisions, December 1999- to-December 2000 increases ranged from 3.2 percent in transportation to 6.4 percent in insurance. (See table 3.)
Compensation costs for nonunion workers rose 4.4 percent over the year, compared with 4.0 percent for union workers. In service-producing industries, nonunion compensation increased 4.5 percent, compared with a 3.5 percent increase for union workers. In contrast, in goods-producing industries, the increase for union workers was 4.6 percent, compared with a 4.3 percent gain for nonunion workers. Compensation in blue-collar occupations rose 4.4 percent for union workers and 4.1 percent for nonunion workers. (See table 4.)
State and local government
In State and local government, the December 2000 over-the-year increase in wages and salaries was 3.3 percent, compared with a 3.6 percent increase recorded for December 1999. The 12-month gain in benefit costs for December 2000 was 2.4 percent; in December 1999, the gain was 2.8 percent. (See tables 5 and 8.)
ECI data are available on the ECI home page (http://stats.bls.gov/ecthome.htm). To access data using Anonymous FTP, use the Internet address (ftp://ftp.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).
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Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · Original release Jan 25, 2001.
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