reflecting the steady improvement in this regard for such workers
since mid-1976.

Pay gains for workers in occupations covered by collective
bargaining agreements continued to outpace, by a widening ‘margin,

increases for other workers in the 4 quarters ended in June 1977.




i
|

Rate of wage and salary changes in Employment
Cost Index, private nonfarm economy,
‘June 1976 through June 1977

TWercent changes)
Series 3 months ended 12 months ended
. dune Septenber / Decenber March © duné_ | September December March - June
1976 1976 1976 1977197 1976 1976 1977197
ANT private nonfarm workers .. WT 1S we 15 TS 7.2 7.2. 6.8 6.9
Workers, by oggupational grou
white-collar workers . . 15 19 130 16 £2. 64
Professional and technical workers M7 18 Vp 15 63. 6.7
Managers and administrators . 10 10 21 20 63 (6.2
Sales workers .. o - - + V7 : -
Clerical workers’. 2.0 14 1a 12 6.6 6.5
Blue-collar workers .... ae 1.8 19 L722 Ta 7.8
Graft and kindred workers a 2.0 1.3 a1 1.9 77 16
Operatives, except transport : 2.0 2.8 16007 Te 84
Transport equipment operatives ....... 0.6 0:8 04 42 64 6.1
Nonfarm laborers .....++. : 12 2.3 re 2.9 TA BF
Service workers .... a4 21 130 2.2 7.3 6.2
Workers, by industry division
sereeeateractlon srseseeesee- : 2.6 11 09 © (2.3 - - 7.8 7.0
Manufacturing tise : 1.8 2.2 V9 18 14 15 Tr 7.8
Transportation and public utili 13 23 V9 29 89 8:6 86 8.7
Wholesale and retail trade 0.9 19 220° «7 13 Ta 130 6.9
Services : sense ur 0.6 os 8 6.6 4 4a 5.1
rs, by region .
1 eee 17 11 2.0 6.3 6.6 68 7.5
South .. 13 Vp 22 7.0 6.8 58 (6.8
Worth Central... 2.6 a7 18 ma T4 65 6.5
West . fee Ht 16 26 0 (WT 8.6 8.0 730. «67
Workers, by bargaining status
MovigreigatTons covered by coVlective
bargaining agreenents ......... 1.8 24 2.0 Va 22 8.5 81 7.8 8.2
Occupations not covered by
collective bargaining agreements ... 1.6 nl 1.8 500 OWT 6.5 6.8 6.2 6.2
lorkers, by area
MoregeetopoTitan areas 1.5 1.7 1.9 141.8 mM 12 67 7.0
>Other areas ..... 24 0.9 1.8 a 8 m ve 68 6.5

Note: The statistics are percent changes in stra:
change for the "all private nonfarm worker’

ight-time aver

urly earnings over the pertod indicated. For example, the 1.5 percent
“series in the first quarter 1977 is the actual percent change in straight-time average

hourly earnings from the pay period including the 12th of the survey month of Decenber 1976, to the comparable period tn arch 1977.

The statistics are not annualized, nor are

The computation of percent changes spannin:
individual quarters. In actual practice,

they adjusted for seasonal influences.

1g more than one survey pertod is accomplished by compounding successive changes for

the compounding calculations are made to the fifth decimal place.

Dashes in the table indicate that the data collected were insufficient to meet statistical criteria for publication during the periods

indicated.




Description of Employment Cost Index

The Employment Cost Index is designed to measure changes in the
rate of compensation of a standardized mix of labor services, much
like the fixed weight market basket of the Consumer Price Index. The
Index is a measure of change in the price of labor not of the level of
well-being of workers.

The scope of the measure will be expanded to total compensation,
covering employee benefits as well as wages and salaries, and to
broader industrial coverage, resulting in an index of changes in all
compensation. Publication of compensation statistics including
employee benefits is scheduled to begin in 1978, followed by statistics
for the total civilian economy in subsequent years. A long-term
program objective is to increase the amount of detail for industries,
occupations, and areas and the frequency of publication. Seasonally
adjusted statistics will become available as soon as sufficient
experience is accumulated to compute adjustment factors.

The Employment Cost Index statistics are now computed from 9,000
occupational wage and salary quotes collected quarterly from approxi- —
mately 2,000 respondents representing, with certain exclusions, the
occupational employment composition of the private nonfarm economy.
Respondents in the quarterly survey are establishments or groups of
‘establishments composing a reporting unit. Establishment of all sizes
are within the scope of the survey. The major exclusions are the
‘self-employed, unpaid family workers, private household employees, and
workers in Alaska and Hawaii. Except for the self-employed and unpaid
family workers, these exclusions are temporary. It is intended that
agricultural employees will also eventually be within the scope of the

survey.


United States
Department
of Labor

Bureau of Labor Statistics Washington, D.C. 20212

A. Sackley (202) 523-1165 USDL-77-759
K. D. Hoyle (202) 523-1913 FOR RELEASE: 10:00 A.M. (EDT)
Home : 333-1384 August 31, 1977 .

EMPLOYMENT COST INDEX--JUNE 1977

Wage and salary rates measured by the Employment Cost Index rose
1.9 percent for the 3 months ended in June 1977, the Bureau of Labor
Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. In the
12 months ended in June 1977, wage and salary rates rose 6.9 percent.
(See table.)
March 1977-June 1977

Accelerated increases in pay for workers in the transportation,
construction, and services industries were major factors in the higher
percentage rise in the Employment Cost Index in the second quarter.
The 2.9 percent increase recorded for transportation and utilities,
compared with 1.9 percent in the first quarter, reflected the impact
of deferred negotiated increases or cost-of-living adjustments in the
airlines, trucking, and maritime industries. The 2.3 percent increase
in construction, up from 0.9 percent in the preceding quarter, is
attributable mainly to seasonal collective bargaining patterns which
concentrate many settlements and deferred negotiated increases in the
spring. Increased earnings for workers in personal services and
automobile repair shops contributed to the 1.8 percent rise in the rate
of pay in the services industry group, following the 0.9 percent
increase for the prior quarter. In manufacturing, the industry with
the most influence on the overall index, the rate of pay increase was
1.8 percent in the second quarter. Workers in wholesale and retail
trade experienced the lowest rate of increase in the second quarter--1.7

percent, down from 2.2 percent.




-6-

Straight-time hourly earnings are used in the Employment Cost
Index as a proxy for a measure of wage and salary rates. All occupa-
tional wage and salary data are collected as, or converted into,
straight-time hourly earnings for the survey occupations. Straight-time
earnings are total earnings before deductions, excluding premium payments
for overtime and for work on weekends and holidays and shift differen-
tials. Production bonuses and cost-of-living allowances are included
in straight-time earnings. Data pertain to the pay period including
the 12th of the survey months of March, June, September, and December.
The Index occupations conform to the Bureau of Census occupational
classification system which consists of 441 occupations grouped into
12 broad occupational categories. Nine of these groups are now in the
scope of the survey. These major occupational groups are:

Professional and technical workers

These occupations are concerned with the theoretical or practical
aspects of such fields as art, science, engineering, education,
medicine, law, and business relations. Included are such highly
trained personnel as teachers, dentists, accountants, attorneys,
chemists, engineers, physicians, and the clergy. Computer specialists,
political scientists, writers, artists, and entertainers are also in
this category.

Managers and administrators

This group includes those positions charged with the direction
and responsibility of a given activity. Top and middle management,
and all other supervisory personnel above first-line supervisory level,
are included.
Sales workers

These workers include sales clerks as well as insurance and real






and fire fighters. Private household workers are excluded.

A complete listing of ECI occupations may be found in the
"Employment Cost Index--Occupations "Classification System Manual,"
Bureau of Labor Statistics, January 1975.

The published industry and occupational statistics do not pertain
to mutually exclusive groups of employees. Workers from all industry
divisions may be represented in a major occupational group; conversely,
workers from all occupational groups may be represented in a major
industry division. For example, statistics for the industry "Services"
are based on occupational pay data for professionals, managers,
clercial workers, service workers, etc. Similarly, statistics for the
occupational group "Service workers" cover such workers as janitors,
waiters, practical nurses, flight attendants, and guards; these may be
found in real estate, retail trade, transportation, and other industries
as well as services.

The Employment Cost Index statistics, although computed from
levels of occupational pay, are measures of change. The pay level
data collected from sample reporting units are weighted into occupa-
tional averages, by industry, using weights essentially derived from a
1974 occupational employment survey. These industry pay averages are
aggregated for index computation using fixed weights obtained from the
1970 decennial census. Average pay levels for overall measure and its

* components are not explicitly calculated as part of the computational
process. Although pay levels can be obtained by dividing the wage and
salary aggregates by the fixed index weights, these data do not
correspond to actual average pay levels at any point in time. However,
because of interest expressed in the statistical design of this series,

average pay levels have been computed for the overall and component


~9-

published series for September 1975, and these are available upon
request.

In addition to the industries shown in the table, published
statistics cover mining and finance, insurance, and real estate, but
insufficient data preclude separate publication of these results.
Series for which statistics are published comprise over 90 percent of
the total sample. The relative importance of the industrial and other
component submeasures, as of December 1976, and estimates of relative
sampling errors are also available on request.

The regional coverage is as follows: Northeast--Connecticut,
Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania,
Rhode Island, and Vermont; South--Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware,
District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland,
Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee,
Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia; North Central--Illinois, Indiana,
Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota,
Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin; West--Arizona, California, Colorado,
Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and
Wyoming. ¢

A description of the survey design is provided in the chapter on
the Employment Cost Index in the BLS “Handbook of Methods", BLS
Bulletin 1910.

Releases are scheduled for February, May, August, and November--2
months after each quarter. Statistics in these releases pertain to
the preceding quarter and 12-month period ended in that quarter. The
Employment Cost Index statistical series, from September 1975, is

available in Current Wage Developments, a BLS monthly periodical.


Among occupations, pay gains went up for white and blue-collar
workers in the second quarter, with the larger gains accruing to the
latter group. Transport equipment operatives experienced the highest
percentage increase--4.2 percent--following 3 quarters of small
increases, as a consequence of the timing of negotiated increases. Pay
gains for laborers and service workers at 2.9 and 2.2 percent,
respectively, were also up sharply from the prior quarter. Clerical
workers experienced the smallest rate of increase--1.2 percent--among
all. occupational groups in the second quarter.

Among regions, percentage wage gains for workers were highest in
the South and Northeast and lowest in the North Central States.

Pay of workers in occupations covered by collective bargaining
agreements advanced 2.2 percent in the second quarter compared with 1.7
percent for workers not covered, a reversal of relative positions in
the prior quarter. Pay for workers both in and outside of metropolitan
areas climbed at a faster rate in the second quarter, with the rate of
advance higher outside of metropolitan areas for the second consecutive
quarter.

June_1976-June 1977 :

Over the 12 months since June 1976, increases in the rate of pay
for blue-collar workers, with the exception of transport equipment

_ operatives, continued to exceed by an increasing margin those for
white-collar and service workers. In this time span, increases in the
rates of pay for workers employed in transportation and public utilities
and in manufacturing have been 'well above the national average, while
increases for employees in services have been well below this average.

Comparisons of wage and salary changes among regions over this

period show the highest increases went to workers in the Northeast,




-7-

estate agents, stock and bond sales agents, and manufacturing sales
representatives.
Clerical workers
Within this category are workers who type, operate computer and
office machines, keep records, take dictation, and deliver mail.

Craft and kindred workers

Work activities in this group primarily involve fabricating,
processing, inspecting or repairing material, products, or structural
units. Included are a variety of occupations such as carpenters, tool
and die makers, instrument makers, jewelers, electricians, and
typesetters. Apprenticeship is usually a prerequisite for entry into
these occupations.

Operatives, except transport

Operatives in this grouping are engaged in such activities as
assembling goods in factories, operating or tending machinery, and
photographic processing. Occupations such as solderers, welders,
Meat cutters, and gas station attendants are also included.

Transport equipment operatives

Truck, bus, and taxi drivers fall within this group.
Nonfarm laborers

Laborers move, lift, and carry materials and tools in work-places.
‘These include freight and material handlers, longshore workers, and
construction laborers.
Service workers ,

This group includes those who maintain law and order, serve
individuals in institutional, commercial, and other establishments.
Some of the occupations are janitors, bartenders, waiters, dental

assistants, practical nurses, flight attendants, barbers, and police