March 2001 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 (not seasonally adjusted) for March 2001 was 152.5 (June 1989=100), an increase of 4.1 percent from March 2000, 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 1.1 percent during the December 2000-March 2001 period, following a gain of 0.9 percent in September-December 2000. Wages and salaries increased 1.0 percent during the December 2000-March 2001 period, following a 0.8 percent increase in the previous 3-month period. Benefit costs rose 1.3 percent during the March 2001 quarter, following a 1.0 percent increase in the December 2000 quarter.

The 3-month increase in compensation costs and wages and salaries for private industry workers was 1.1 percent during the December 2000-March 2001 period. Compensation costs rose 0.9 percent and wages and salaries gained 0.8 during the December 2000 quarter. Benefit costs showed a 3- month rise of 1.4 percent during the March 2001 quarter, compared with a 1.1 percent gain during the December 2000 quarter. (See tables A and 1.)

Compensation costs for State and local government workers increased 1.0 percent during the December 2000-March 2001 period; in the September- December 2000 period, the increase was 0.8 percent. Wages and salaries rose 1.0 percent in the quarter ended in March 2001, following a gain of 0.8 percent in the December 2000 quarter. Benefit costs rose 1.2 percent during the March 2001 quarter, an increase from the 0.7 percent gain in the December 2000 quarter. As was true with private sector workers, the increase in benefit costs was due, in part, to increases in employer costs for health insurance.

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 March 2001. This compares with over-the-year increases of 4.3 percent in March 2000 and 3.0 percent in March 1999. Compensation costs in private industry rose 4.2 percent in the year ended March 2001, compared with increases of 4.6 percent in March 2000 and 3.0 percent in March 1999. In State and local government, compensation costs increased 3.3 percent for the year ended March 2001; over-the-year increases were 3.6 percent in March 2000 and 2.9 percent in March 1999. (See tables B, 2, and 3.)

Nonfarm private industry

In private industry, wages and salaries rose 3.8 percent for the year ended March 2001, after increasing 4.2 percent in the year ended March 2000. (See tables B and 6.) Benefit costs for private industry workers increased 5.0 percent for the year ended in March 2001, following an increase of 5.5 percent in March 2000. (See chart A and tables B and 8.)

In private industry, over-the-year compensation cost increases were 4.3 percent for white-collar occupations, 3.9 percent for blue-collar occupations, and 4.2 percent for service occupations. Among the occupational groups, increases in compensation costs ranged from 2.3 percent for sales workers to 5.3 percent for professional specialty and technical occupations. (See table 3.)

For the year ended March 2001, the compensation cost increase was 4.1 percent for goods-producing industries, compared with a 4.2 percent increase for the year ended March 2000. The over-the-year increase in compensation for service-producing industries was 4.3 percent, compared with a 4.6 percent increase for the year ended March 2000. Among service- producing industry divisions, March 2000-to-March 2001 increases ranged from 3.4 percent in wholesale trade to 6.7 percent in communications. (See table 3.)

Compensation costs for nonunion workers rose 4.3 percent over the year, compared with 3.4 percent for union workers. In service-producing industries, nonunion compensation increased 4.3 percent, compared with a 3.6 percent increase for union workers. In goods-producing industries, the increase for nonunion workers was 4.3 percent, compared with a 3.2 percent gain for union workers. Compensation in blue-collar occupations rose 4.2 percent for nonunion workers and 3.4 percent for union workers. (See table 4.)

State and local government

In State and local government, the March 2001 over-the-year increase in wages and salaries was 3.5 percent, compared with a 3.8 percent increase recorded for March 2000. The 12-month gain in benefit costs for March 2001 was 2.8 percent; in March 2000, the gain was 3.2 percent. (See tables B, 5 and 8.)

This release includes annual revisions in seasonally adjusted Employment Cost Index (ECI) data for total compensation, wages and salaries, and benefit costs. Seasonally adjusted data for 1996-2000 were revised to reflect updated seasonal factors. The new seasonal factors and historical listing containing revised seasonally adjusted indexes are available on the Internet site (http://www.bls.gov/ecthome.htm) or upon request.

ECI data are available on the ECI home page (http://www.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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