Compensation costs for civilian workers increased 0.9 percent, seasonally adjusted, for the 3-month period ending in December 2024, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Wages and salaries increased 0.9 percent and benefit…
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics2 min read
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Compensation costs for civilian workers increased 0.9 percent, seasonally adjusted, for the 3-month period ending in December 2024, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Wages and salaries increased 0.9 percent and benefit costs increased 0.8 percent from September 2024. (See tables A, 1, 2, and 3.)
Compensation costs for civilian workers increased 3.8 percent for the 12-month period ending in December 2024 and increased 4.2 percent in December 2023. Wages and salaries increased 3.8 percent for the 12-month period ending in December 2024 and increased 4.3 percent for the 12-month period ending in December 2023. Benefit costs increased 3.6 percent over the year and increased 3.8 percent for the 12-month period ending in December 2023. (See tables A, 4, 8, and 12.)
Compensation costs for private industry workers increased 3.6 percent over the year. In December 2023, the increase was 4.1 percent. Wages and salaries increased 3.7 percent for the 12-month period ending in December 2024 and increased 4.3 percent in December 2023. The cost of benefits increased 3.3 percent for the 12-month period ending in December 2024 and increased 3.6 percent in December 2023. Inflation-adjusted (constant dollar) wages and salaries increased 0.8 percent for the 12 months ending December 2024. (See tables A, 5, 9, and 12.)
Within private industry by bargaining status, compensation costs increased 5.1 percent for union workers and 3.4 percent for non-union workers for the 12-month period ending in December 2024. Wages and salaries increased 5.5 percent for union workers and 3.5 percent for non-union workers for the 12-month period ending in December 2024. Benefit costs increased 4.6 percent for union workers and 3.1 percent for non- union workers for the period ending in December 2024.(See tables 6, 10, and 12.)
Compensation costs for state and local government workers increased 4.7 percent for the 12-month period ending in December 2024 and increased 4.6 percent in December 2023. Wages and salaries increased 4.5 percent for the 12-month period ending in December 2024 and 4.7 percent in December 2023. Benefit costs increased 4.9 percent for the 12-month period ending in December 2024. The prior year’s increase was 4.6 percent. (See tables A, 7, 11, and 12.)
Rounding Changes to Employment Cost Index (ECI) Estimates
Effective with the release of June 2025 ECI data on July 31, 2025, BLS will publish index levels to three decimal places. Percent changes based on these more precise indexes will continue to be published to one decimal place. For more information, see www.bls.gov/eci/notices/2024/changes-to-index-rounding.htm.
Archived Nov 11, 2026. Source reuse policy. Formatting has been adapted for reading; the source’s conclusions remain attributed to its publisher.
MortgageRates.news analysis · Historical context
The mortgage market around this release
This original analysis is separate from the source article. It compares observed benchmarks around ; historical averages and yields are not current mortgage offers.
Read compensation costs separately from job growth
The Employment Cost Index tracks changes in employers’ hourly compensation costs, including wages, salaries and benefits. Its fixed employment weights limit the effect of shifts between industries and occupations; it does not count newly created jobs. Compare wage and benefit components, and check whether the quoted change is for three months or twelve months and whether it is seasonally adjusted. Compensation trends are one part of the inflation and policy picture, without determining a particular mortgage rate. BLS Employment Cost Index.
Nearest published observation on or before each target date
Calendar references, not an intraday reaction. A same-day market observation may have been published after a morning release. These figures do not show what was known at its exact publication time. One basis point (bp) is 0.01 percentage point; changes use the actual dated observations shown.
Dots show published observations only. Missing dates remain blank, with no interpolation. The series have different publication schedules and measure different markets.
What that benchmark difference would mean for a $300,000 loan
At the publication reference$1,985.84/month
6.95% · Jan 30, 2025
At the later reference$1,947.79/month
6.76% · Feb 27, 2025
The illustrative principal-and-interest payment is $38.05 lower per month. This holds the loan amount and term constant to show the arithmetic effect of the benchmark difference.
Assumptions: two separate hypothetical $300,000 loans, each fully amortizing over 30 years with 360 monthly payments and its stated fixed interest rate. Excludes points, lender fees, taxes, insurance, association charges and other costs. PMMS is a national average, not an APR or a personalized rate offer. These are not two payments on one existing loan.
Sources, historical coverage and calculation limits
Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey®: available observations from Apr 2, 1971 through Nov 5, 2026. Cached history snapshot. History retrieved or verified Nov 11, 2026.
U.S. Department of the Treasury: available observations from Jan 4, 2016 through Nov 10, 2026. Cached history snapshot. History retrieved or verified Nov 11, 2026.
The 30-day comparisons use calendar days. Each cell selects the last published observation on or before its target; no rates are synthesized for missing dates. Gaps greater than seven days for daily Treasury data or fourteen days for weekly mortgage data are marked unavailable. Forward comparisons require the date to have arrived and source coverage to extend through it.
Historical files may contain revisions and do not reconstruct precisely what every market participant knew at the time. Freddie Mac changed its PMMS collection methodology in November 2022. Cross-period comparisons should account for that change. These windows include other news and cannot establish causation or forecast the next rate move.