A to Z Index | FAQs | About BLS | Contact Us Subscribe to E-mail Updates

What's New | Release Calendar | Site Map

Search BLS.gov

SEARCH ECT

Go

LATEST

NUMBERS

SUBSCRIBE

Employment Cost Trends ECT FONT SIZE: PRINT:

National Compensation Survey - Employment Cost Trends produces quarterly indexes

measuring change over time in labor costs (ECI) and quarterly data measuring level of

average costs per hour worked (ECEC).

Announcement

The originally published estimates for the Employment Cost Index data for June 2009 through

September 2010 were found to contain errors and have been corrected. The primary errors

were in wage and salary data for State and local government public administration. Additional

series were subject to correction as well.

More Info »

New seasonal factors for 2011, along with revised seasonally adjusted indexes for the past

five years will be available Wednesday, April 27, 2011.

More Info »

On This Page

ECT News Releases

ECT Databases -

Employment Cost Trends

Statistics

ECT Tables

Contract Escalation

ECT Publications and Other

Documentation

ECT FAQs

ECT Special Notice

ECT Related Links

Contact ECT

Employment Cost Index (ECI)

January 28, 2011

Civilian workers compensation, wages and salaries, and benefit costs all rose 0.4

percent, seasonally adjusted, from September to December 2010. Over the year,

compensation rose 2.0 percent, wages and salaries 1.6 percent, and benefits 2.9

percent. More...

(HTML) (PDF)

Employer Costs for Employee Compensation (ECEC)

March 09, 2011

Private industry employers spent an average of $27.75 per hour worked for employee

compensation in December 2010. Private industry costs averaged $1.89 per hour worked

for paid leave benefits and $2.28 for legally required benefits. More...

(HTML) (PDF)

CIVILIAN

WORKERS,

COMPENSATION

3-Month %

Change (SA)

0.4% in 4th Qtr of

2010

12-Month %

Change (NSA)

2.0% in 4th Qtr of

2010

PRIVATE

INDUSTRY,

COMPENSATION

3-Month %

Change (SA)

0.4% in 4th Qtr of

2010

12-Month %

Change (NSA)

2.1% in 4th Qtr of

2010

STATE AND

LOCAL

GOVERNMENT,

COMPENSATION

3-Month %

Change (SA)

0.6% in 4th Qtr of

2010

12-Month %

Change (NSA)

1.8% in 4th Qtr of

2010

Historical

Data

News

Release

SA - Seasonally

Adjusted

NSA - Not

Seasonally

Adjusted

p - preliminary

Subscribe to

receive free BLS

ECT News Releases

BROWSE ECT

ECT HOME

ECT OVERVIEW

ECT NEWS RELEASES

ECT DATABASES

ECT TABLES

ECT PUBLICATIONS

ECT FAQS

CONTACT ECT

Home Subject Areas Databases & Tools Publications Economic Releases Beta

3/14/2011 Employment Cost Trends Home Page

http://www.bls.gov/ncs/ect/home.htm 1/6
Current ECT News Releases

Employment Cost Index (ECI) (HTML) (PDF)

ECI Archives - Complete set of ECI news releases from 1976.

Employer Costs for Employee Compensation (HTML) (PDF)

ECEC Archives - Complete set of ECEC news releases from 1986.

Subscribe to the BLS News Service— receive the Employment Cost Index news

release by e-mail

ECI Regional News Releases

Databases

Database

Name

Special

Notice

Top

Picks

One

Screen

MultiScreen Tables Text Files

Tutorials:

For help, try

these tutorials

Pay & Cost of Benefits

Employment

Cost Index

Employer Cost

for Employee

Compensation

More Tools

Series Report —Already know the series identifier for the statistic you want? Use

this shortcut to retrieve your data.

Flat files (FTP)—For those who want it all. Download a flat file of the entire

database or large subset of the database.

Employment Cost Index (ECI)

NAICS basis

Employer Cost for Employee Compensation (ECEC)

2004 forward (NAICS basis)

Compensation Cost Trends Search--allows you to search through all the

Employment Cost Index and Employer Costs for Employee Compensation

publications that are currently available electronically.

All ECT Databases »

Economic New s

Release email

ECT Databases

3/14/2011 Employment Cost Trends Home Page

http://www.bls.gov/ncs/ect/home.htm 2/6
ECI Current-Dollar Historical Listings

NAICS basis (TXT) (PDF)

SIC basis (TXT) (PDF)

ECI Constant-Dollar Historical Listings

NAICS basis (TXT) (PDF)

SIC basis (TXT) (PDF)

ECI Historical Listings - Continuous Occupational and Industry Series, September

1975 - Present (TXT) (PDF)

ECI Health Insurance, private industry (PDF)

ECI Standard Errors

UPDATED ECEC Historical Listing, 2004 to present (Quarterly)-Employer Costs for

Employee Compensation (TXT) (PDF) -- Quarterly estimates from March 2004 to the

present, with sample establishments classified by industry categories based on the

new 2002 North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) and the 2000

Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system.

UPDATED ECEC Supplemental Tables Historical Data, December 2006 – December

2010 (TXT) (PDF)

UPDATED ECEC Relative Standard Errors (TXT) (PDF)

ECEC Relative Standard Errors -- Supplementary Tables (TXT) (PDF)

NEW ECEC Supplemental Tables - December 2010 (TXT) (PDF) -- supplemental

tables with series for private industry workers by occupational group, establishment

size, and bargaining status in 14 detailed industries.

ECEC Historical Listing, 2002-2003 (Quarterly)—Employer Costs for Employee

Compensation (TXT) (PDF) -- Quarterly estimates from March 2002 to December

2003, with sample establishments classified by industry categories based on the

1987 Standard Industry Classification (SIC) system and by occupational

classifications according to the 1990 Census of Population.

ECEC Historical Listing, 1986-2001 (Annual)—Employer Costs for Employee

Compensation (TXT) (PDF) -- Annual estimates from March 1986 to March 2001,

with sample establishments classified by industry categories based on the Standard

Industry Classification (SIC) system and by occupational classifications according to

the Census of Population.

Seasonal Factors and Revised Seasonally Adjusted Indexes

Chart—Changes in wages and salaries and benefit costs, civilian workers

The Employment Cost Index (ECI) is increasingly being used by business organizations as

an escalator to adjust long-term sales and purchasing contracts, and to adjust wage

rates in collective bargaining agreements. A web page explaining how to use the ECI for

escalating contracts is available.

ECT Tables

Contract Escalation

3/14/2011 Employment Cost Trends Home Page

http://www.bls.gov/ncs/ect/home.htm 3/6
Employment Cost Indexes, 1975-99 (PDF 567K)

Employer Costs for Employee Compensation, 1986-99 (PDF 719K)

The Employment Cost Index and the Impact on Medicare Reimbursements (PDF)

Related Articles

Compensation and Working Condition (CWC) Online

Monthly Labor Review (MLR) Online

Archives

All NCS Publications (including benefits, compensation costs, and wages) »

People Are Asking...

1. Is the ECI adjusted for inflation?

2. What is the Employment Cost index for individual occupations in the U.S.?

3. How can I get annualized ECI data?

4. What's the average raise?

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How do I calculate the percent change between two time periods?

2. What impact can incentive paid workers have on the ECI?

3. Once I have identified the series I want to use, how should I reference it to make

sure it will not be confused with another series?

4. Where can I get wage determinations data?

5. Where can I obtain information on minimum wage and overtime laws and

regulations?

6. Where can I find Employment Cost Index (wages & salaries and benefits) historical

data?

7. How often are the ECI and ECEC published?

8. Does BLS interpret or forecast data on ECI and ECEC?

9. Is there a survey which shows compensation and benefits as a part of

compensation?

10. Do you have breakdowns of the Employer Costs for Employee Compensation by

state?

11. Does the Employment Cost Index include stock options?

All ECT FAQs »

None

Related Links to Other BLS Programs

National Compensation Survey—provides comprehensive measures of occupational

earnings; compensation cost trends; and benefit incidence and detail plan

ECT Publications

ECT Frequently Asked Questions

ECT Special Notice

ECT Related Links

3/14/2011 Employment Cost Trends Home Page

http://www.bls.gov/ncs/ect/home.htm 4/6
provisions.

Wages—provides data on occupational wages for localities, broad geographic

regions, and the nation..

Benefits—comprehensive data on incidence and provisions of selected employee

benefit plans.

Consumer Price Indexes—provides monthly data on changes in the prices paid by

urban consumers for a representative basket of goods and services.

Producer Price Indexes—provides monthly data on changes in the selling prices

received by domestic producers of goods and services.

Occupational Employment Statistics—data on employment and wages for over 800

occupations and for about 400 nonfarm industries for the nation, plus occupational

data for States and metropolitan areas.

Occupational Outlook Handbook—provides data for 250 occupations, by nature of the

work, working conditions, employment, job outlook and earnings, related

occupations, sources of additional information, and training, other qualifications, and

advancement.

Other Useful Links

Employment Standards Administration—administers a variety of programs protecting

the basic rights of workers, including minimum wage and hour standards, and equal

employment opportunity.

Employee Benefit Research Institute—offers a detailed description of private- and

public-sector employee benefit programs as they exist today.

Contacts

The Office of Compensation Levels and Trends, Branch of Survey Information and

Publications, will be glad to assist you with questions about any of the components of the

National Compensation Survey.

Ways to Contact BLS Directly

Email: Contact us

Telephone: (202) 691-6199 (Monday - Friday, 8:30 A.M. - 4:30 P.M.)

Question-by-FAX: (202) 691-6647

Information and assistance is also available from any BLS regional office.

TDD

Information voice phone: (202) 691-5200 The Federal Relay Service: 1-800-877-8339

Write or Personal Visit

Bureau of Labor Statistics

OCLT/SI&P

2 Massachusetts Ave., N.E. - Suite 4175

Washington, D.C. 20212-0001

Other Ways to Access our Data:

Libraries

Federal Depository Libraries provide free access to government documents. Many of

these libraries receive BLS publications. Check with a location near you.

Contact Us

3/14/2011 Employment Cost Trends Home Page

http://www.bls.gov/ncs/ect/home.htm 5/6
To Order Publications

Copies for purchase:

GPO Online Bookstore

GPO Ordering Information

Subscriptions:

GPO Superintendent of Documents

P.O. Box 371954

Pittsburgh, PA 15250-7954

(202) 512-1800

Freedom of Information Act | Privacy & Security Statement | Disclaimers | Customer Survey | Important Web Site Notices

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics | Office of Compensation and Working Conditions, PSB Suite 4175, 2 Massachusetts Avenue, NE Washington, DC 20212-0001

www.bls.gov/ECT | Telephone: 1-202-691-6199 | Contact ECT

TOOLS

Areas at a Glance

Industries at a Glance

Economic Releases

Databases & Tables

Maps

CALCULATORS

Inflation

Location Quotient

Injury And Illness

HELP

Help & Tutorials

FAQs

Glossary

About BLS

Contact Us

INFO

What's New

Careers @ BLS

Find It! DOL

Join our Mailing Lists

Linking & Copyright Info

3/14/2011 Employment Cost Trends Home Page

http://www.bls.gov/ncs/ect/home.htm 6/6