Bureau of Labor Statistics Washington, D.C. 20212 

Technical Contact: USDL: 06-1900 

(202) 691-6199 NCSinfo@bls.gov 

Media Contact: TRANSMISSION OF MATERIAL 

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Internet address: UNTIL 8:30 A.M. (E.S.T.), 

http://www.bls.gov/ncs/ect/home.htm TUESDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2006

EMPLOYMENT COST INDEX—SEPTEMBER 2006 

Total compensation costs for civilian workers increased 1.0 percent from June to September 2006, 

seasonally adjusted, virtually unchanged from the 0.9 percent gain from March to June, the Bureau of Labor 

Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Benefit costs between June and September rose 1.1 

percent, compared with the gain of 0.8 percent from the previous quarter. Wages and salaries increased 0.9 

percent during the quarter, unchanged from the gain of the previous quarter. The Employment Cost Index 

(ECI), a component of the National Compensation Survey, measures quarterly changes in compensation costs, 

which include wages, salaries, and employer costs for employee benefits for civilian workers (nonfarm private 

industry and state and local government). 

Increases in benefit costs accounted for one-third of the rise in compensation costs for civilian workers 

from June to September 2006. Among private industry workers, benefit costs attributed about one-fourth of 

the compensation gains during the quarter. Among state and local government workers, benefit costs 

comprised approximately two-fifths of the compensation cost gains during the June to September quarter. 

Health insurance costs and defined benefit contributions represented over one-quarter of the gain in 

compensation costs for state and local government workers from June to September 2006. 

Quarterly changes, seasonally adjusted

Compensation costs for the private sector rose 0.9 percent from June to September, after advancing 0.8 

percent in the prior quarter. For state and local government workers, compensation costs increased 1.4 percent 

from June to September, after increasing 1.1 percent for the quarter ended in June. (See tables A and 1.) 

Wages and salaries of civilian workers increased 0.9 percent during the September quarter, unchanged 

from the gain of the June quarter. Wages and salaries for private industry workers rose 0.8 percent for the 

September quarter, compared with an increase of 0.9 percent in the prior quarter. Wages and salaries in state 

and local government advanced 1.4 percent during the June to September period, higher than the 0.9 percent 

gain in the prior quarter. (See tables A and 2.) 

United States 

Department News of Labor 

NOTE

Beginning in March 2007, “white-collar occupations,” “blue-collar occupations,” and 

“excluding sales occupations” series will be discontinued, along with “durable goods” and 

“nondurable goods” manufacturing estimates. For more information on the changes, see the BLS 

website at http://www.bls.gov/ncs/ect/sp/ecsm0001.htm. 
 2

Benefit costs advanced 1.1 percent for civilian workers in the September quarter, compared with a 0.8 

percent gain in the June quarter. Private sector benefit costs rose 1.0 percent for the September quarter, 

following a 0.7 percent gain in the previous quarter. Benefit costs for state and local government workers 

increased 1.5 percent in the September quarter, unchanged from the gain in June. (See tables A and 3.) 

Table A. 3-month percent changes in the Employment Cost Index, seasonally adjusted 

 Dec. Mar. June Sep. Dec. Mar. June Sep. Compensation component 2004 2005 2005 2005 2005 2006 2006 2006

Civilian workers

Compensation costs 0.7 0.9 0.7 0.8 0.8 0.6 0.9 1.0 

 Wages and salaries 0.5 0.7 0.6 0.6 0.7 0.7 0.9 0.9 

 Benefit costs 1.3 1.6 0.9 1.1 0.9 0.5 0.8 1.1 

 Private industry

Compensation costs 0.7 0.9 0.6 0.7 0.7 0.6 0.8 0.9 

 Wages and salaries 0.4 0.7 0.5 0.6 0.6 0.7 0.9 0.8 

 Benefit costs 1.2 1.5 0.8 0.9 0.7 0.4 0.7 1.0 

 State and local government 

Compensation costs 0.8 1.0 0.9 1.0 1.1 0.5 1.1 1.4 

 Wages and salaries 0.5 0.7 0.6 0.7 1.0 0.4 0.9 1.4 

 Benefit costs 1.5 1.6 1.4 1.6 1.5 0.7 1.5 1.5 

Over-the-year changes, not seasonally adjusted

Annual compensation costs for civilian workers increased 3.3 percent for the year ended September 

2006, compared with a 3.0 percent over-the-year increase for September 2005. Compensation costs in private 

industry rose 3.0 percent in the year ended September 2006, compared with a 2.9 percent increase in 

September 2005. For state and local governments, compensation costs increased 4.1 percent for the year 

ended September 2006, compared with the over-the-year gain of 3.9 percent in September 2005. (See tables 

B, 4, 5, and 7.) 

Table B. 12-month percent changes in the Employment Cost Index, not seasonally adjusted 

 Sep. Sep. Sep. Sep. Sep. Sep. Compensation component 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

Civilian workers 

Compensation costs 4.1 3.5 3.9 3.8 3.0 3.3 

 Wages and salaries 3.6 3.1 2.9 2.5 2.3 3.2 

 Benefit costs 5.1 4.5 6.3 6.6 5.0 3.3 

 Private industry 

Compensation costs 4.0 3.5 3.9 3.8 2.9 3.0 

 Wages and salaries 3.5 3.1 3.0 2.6 2.3 3.0 

 Benefit costs 4.9 4.3 6.3 6.7 4.5 2.8 

 State and local government 

Compensation costs 4.4 3.7 3.7 3.4 3.9 4.1 

 Wages and salaries 3.9 3.0 2.4 2.1 2.6 3.7 

 Benefit costs 5.6 5.3 6.7 6.5 6.5 5.2 

The components of compensation differed in their rates of change. While increases in wages and 

salaries became greater, the sharp increases in benefit costs seen for civilian and private industry workers over 

the past several years slowed to a more moderate pace. For civilian workers, wages and salaries rose 3.2 

percent in the year ended September 2006, greater than the gain of 2.3 percent in September 2005 and 2.5 

percent in September 2004. Benefit costs gained 3.3 percent for civilian workers for the year ended September 

2006, slowing significantly from increases of 5.0 percent for the year ended September 2005 and 6.6 percent 

for the year ended September 2004. (See tables B, 8, and 12.) 
 3

Nonfarm private industry

For the year ended September 2006, compensation costs increased 2.2 percent for goods-producing 

industries, slowing from the increase of 3.4 percent for the year ended September 2005. The rise in 

compensation costs for manufacturing moderated for the year ending September 2006, advancing 1.6 percent 

compared with the 3.2 percent gain in September 2005. Compensation costs for construction rose 3.3 percent 

in September 2006, the same rate of increase as in September 2005. (See table 5.) 

The over-the-year increase for September 2006 in compensation for service-providing industries was 3.2 

percent, compared with the 2.8 percent gain for the year ended September 2005. Among service-providing 

supersector industries, compensation gains ranged from 2.8 percent in the leisure and hospitality industry to 

3.9 percent in education and health services. For the year ended September 2006, compensation costs jumped 

10.7 percent in the utilities industry sector, higher than the increase of 4.5 percent for the year ended 

September 2005. In contrast, compensation costs slowed sharply for the real estate and rental and leasing 

sector, increasing 1.6 percent for September 2006 compared with a jump of 8.0 percent for the year ended 

September 2005. (See table 5.) 

Among white-collar occupational groups, over-the-year compensation cost gains for the year ended 

September 2006 ranged from 2.5 percent for sales and related workers, to 3.6 percent for professional and 

related employees. Among blue-collar occupational groups, compensation cost changes ranged from 2.0 

percent for production workers to 3.6 percent for construction and extraction workers. Compensation costs for 

service workers gained 2.8 percent for the year ended September 2006. (See table 5.) 

Compensation costs for union workers advanced 2.8 percent over the year ended September 2006, 

compared with 3.0 percent for the year ended September 2005. For nonunion workers, compensation costs 

rose 3.1 percent for the year ended September 2006, compared with a gain of 2.9 percent in September 2005. 

Wages and salaries for nonunion workers rose 3.2 percent for the 12 months ended in September 2006, 

compared with the over-the-year increase of 2.2 percent for union workers. Benefit costs for union workers 

rose 3.6 percent, compared with the 2.7 percent gain for nonunion workers in September 2006. (See tables C, 

6, 10, and 12.) 

Table C. 12-month percent changes in the Employment Cost Index, private industry workers, 

by bargaining status, not seasonally adjusted 

 Sep. Sep. Sep. Sep. Sep. Sep. Compensation component 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

 Union workers

Compensation costs 3.3 4.5 4.7 5.6 3.0 2.8 

 Wages and salaries 3.5 4.1 2.7 2.9 2.5 2.2 

 Benefit costs 3.1 5.1 8.3 10.1 4.0 3.6 

 Nonunion workers

Compensation costs 4.1 3.2 3.9 3.4 2.9 3.1 

 Wages and salaries 3.5 3.0 3.2 2.5 2.3 3.2 

 Benefit costs 5.4 4.0 5.9 5.9 4.6 2.7 

State and local government

Wages and salaries for state and local government workers rose 3.7 percent in the year ended September 

2006, greater than the gain of 2.6 percent for the year ended September 2005. Benefit costs rose 5.2 percent 

for the year ended September 2006, moderating from the gain of 6.5 percent for the year ended September 

2005. (See tables B, 11, and 12.) 

For the year ended September 2006, compensation costs increased 5.6 percent for the health care and 

social assistance industry, significantly higher than the 3.3 percent increase for the year ended September 

2005. Compensation costs for elementary and secondary schools rose 4.9 percent, compared with an increase 

of 3.7 percent for the year ended September 2005. Among occupational groups, compensation costs for 

professional and related workers rose 4.6 percent, for office and administrative support workers, 4.3 percent, 

and for service workers, 4.0 percent for the year ended September 2006. (See table 7.) 
 4

Over-the-year changes in wages and salaries, constant dollars, not seasonally adjusted

Annual changes are computed in terms of December 2005 dollars to give an approximate measure of 

changes in wages and salaries after adjustment for the changes over the same time in the price of consumer 

goods and services. These estimates, in “constant dollars,” show that wages and salaries for civilian workers 

rose 1.1 percent for the year ended September 2006; a 3.2 percent gain in nominal wages and salaries for the 

year ended September 2006 was offset by an increase of 2.1 percent in the Consumer Price Index for the same 

time period. Wages and salaries for civilian workers declined 2.3 percent for the year ended September 2005. 

Wages and salaries in private industry rose 1.0 percent in the year ended September 2006, compared with a 

decline of 2.3 percent in September 2005. Wages and salaries increased 1.6 percent for state and local 

government workers for the year ended September 2006, compared with an over-the-year decrease of 2.0 

percent in September 2005. These inflation-adjusted ECI series were derived using the Consumer Price Index 

for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), U.S. City Average All Items. (See table D, the Technical Note, and the 

Constant Dollar historical listing at http://www.bls.gov/web/ecconst.pdf, for details.) 

Table D. 12-month percent changes in wages and salaries, Employment Cost Index, 

constant dollars, not seasonally adjusted 

 Sep. Sep. Sep. Sep. Sep. Sep.

Sector, occupational group and industry 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

Civilian workers 0.9 1.5 0.6 0.0 -2.3 1.1 

Occupation 

 Management, professional, and related 1.3 1.5 0.8 -0.1 -2.2 1.5 

 Sales and office -0.2 1.9 0.8 0.4 -2.4 1.0 

 Natural resources, construction, and maintenance 1.2 1.3 0.3 -0.2 -2.1 1.3 

 Production, transportation, and material moving 1.1 1.4 0.2 0.0 -2.5 0.2 

 Service 0.7 1.5 0.0 -0.6 -2.1 0.6 

Industry 

 Goods producing 0.7 1.3 0.6 0.3 -2.3 0.7 

 Service providing 1.0 1.6 0.6 -0.1 -2.3 1.2 

 

 Private industry 0.9 1.5 0.8 0.0 -2.3 1.0 

 State and local government 1.2 1.5 0.1 -0.5 -2.0 1.6 
 5

________________________________________________________________________________________ 

NOTE: 

The ECI for December 2006 is scheduled to be released Wednesday, January 31, 2007, at 8:30 A.M. 

(E.S.T.). 

ECI data are available on the Compensation Cost Trends page at http://www.bls.gov/ncs/ect/home.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 webmaster@bls.gov. For ECI data 

requests, send e-mail to NCSinfo@bls.gov.

BLS news releases, including the ECI, are available through an e-mail subscription service. See the 

subscription link on http://www.bls.gov/ncs/ect/home.htm or http://www.bls.gov/bls/newsrels.htm. 

Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice 

phone: (202) 691-5200; Federal Relay Service Number: 1-800-877-8339. 

________________________________________________________________________________________ 
 6

0

1

2

3

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

-3

-2

-1

0

1

2

3

4

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

0

2

4

6

8

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

percent change

Wages and salaries

Benefits

percent change

3-month percent change, Seasonally adjusted

Wages and salaries and Benefits

Civilian workers

percent change

Current 

dollars

Constant

dollars

Benefits

Wages and

salaries

12-month percent change, Not seasonally adjusted

Wages and salaries and Benefits

Civilian workers

Current- and Constant-dollars

12-month percent change, Wages and salaries

Civilian workers
 7

Table 1. Employment Cost Index for total compensation1, by occupational group and industry

(Seasonally adjusted)

Occupational group and industry

Indexes (Dec.

2005 = 100) Percent changes for 3-months ended–

June

2006

Sep.

2006

Dec.

2004

Mar.

2005

June

2005

Sep.

2005

Dec.

2005

Mar.

2006

June

2006

Sep.

2006

Civilian workers

All workers2 ................................................................ 101.6 102.6 0.7 0.9 0.7 0.8 0.8 0.6 0.9 1.0

Private industry workers

All workers .................................................................. 101.6 102.5 .7 .9 .6 .7 .7 .6 .8 .9

Occupational group

White-collar occupations3 ....................................... 101.7 102.7 .7 .9 .7 .7 .7 .6 .9 1.0

Blue-collar occupations4 ......................................... 101.4 102.2 .7 .6 .6 .7 .6 .4 .8 .8

Industry

Goods-producing industries5 .................................. 101.2 101.8 .7 .9 .9 .8 .5 .1 .9 .6

Construction ....................................................... 101.8 102.7 .5 .8 .8 1.0 .7 .7 .9 .9

Manufacturing ..................................................... 100.8 101.4 .5 1.1 .8 .8 .5 -.2 .8 .6

Durable goods ................................................ 100.8 101.1 .5 1.3 .9 .7 .4 -.2 .9 .3

Nondurable goods .......................................... 100.9 102.0 .6 .5 .7 .9 .7 -.1 .5 1.1

Service-providing industries6 .................................. 101.7 102.7 .6 .9 .5 .7 .7 .8 .8 1.0

Trade, transportation, and utilities7 .................... 101.3 102.3 .3 .9 .3 1.0 .8 .6 .5 1.0

Retail trade ..................................................... 101.0 101.8 .8 .9 .5 .8 .8 .4 .4 .8

Information7 ........................................................ 101.9 103.0 .5 1.0 .9 .4 .9 .4 1.2 1.1

Financial activities7 ............................................. 101.5 102.2 1.0 1.5 .7 .5 1.0 .9 .3 .7

Professional and business services7 .................. 102.2 102.9 .6 .6 .3 .1 .4 1.1 1.1 .7

Education and health services7 .......................... 101.9 103.2 .7 .9 .8 .8 .9 .8 1.0 1.3

Education services ......................................... 102.1 102.7 1.3 1.0 .9 1.1 .7 .9 1.3 .6

Health care and social assistance8 ................ 101.9 103.2 .6 .9 .8 .7 .9 .9 .9 1.3

Leisure and hospitality7 ...................................... 101.4 102.4 .8 .6 .6 .7 .6 .4 1.0 1.0

Other services, except public administration7 .... 102.7 103.5 1.0 .7 .6 1.4 .3 1.2 1.3 .8

State and local government workers

All workers .................................................................. 101.5 102.9 .8 1.0 .9 1.0 1.1 .5 1.1 1.4

1 Includes wages, salaries, and employer costs for employee benefits. 2 Includes workers in the private nonfarm economy except those in

private households, and workers in the public sector, except the federal

government. See "Technical note" for further explanation. 3 Includes the following occupational groups: management, business,

and financial; professional and related; sales and related; and office and

administrative support. 4 Includes the following occupational groups: farming, fishing, and

forestry; construction and extraction; installation, maintenance, and repair;

production; and transportation and material moving. 5 Includes mining, construction, and manufacturing.

6 Includes the following industries: wholesale trade; retail trade;

transportation and warehousing; utilities; information; finance and insurance;

real estate and rental and leasing; professional, scientific, and technical

services; management of companies and enterprises; administrative and

support and waste management and remediation services; education

services; health care and social assistance; arts, entertainment, and

recreation; accommodation and food services; and other services, except

public administration. 7 New series. Historical data are available beginning with March 2001. 8 Includes ambulatory health care services and social assistance, not

shown separately.
 8

Table 2. Employment Cost Index for wages and salaries, by occupational group and industry

(Seasonally adjusted)

Occupational group and industry

Indexes (Dec.

2005 = 100) Percent changes for 3-months ended–

June

2006

Sep.

2006

Dec.

2004

Mar.

2005

June

2005

Sep.

2005

Dec.

2005

Mar.

2006

June

2006

Sep.

2006

Civilian workers

All workers1 ................................................................ 101.6 102.5 0.5 0.7 0.6 0.6 0.7 0.7 0.9 0.9

Private industry workers

All workers .................................................................. 101.7 102.5 .4 .7 .5 .6 .6 .7 .9 .8

Occupational group

White-collar occupations2 ....................................... 101.8 102.7 .4 .7 .6 .6 .6 .7 1.0 .9

Blue-collar occupations3 ......................................... 101.4 102.2 .4 .5 .6 .6 .6 .7 .7 .8

Industry

Goods-producing industries4 .................................. 101.7 102.1 .3 .6 .7 .8 .8 .6 .9 .4

Construction ....................................................... 102.0 102.6 .3 .5 .8 .8 1.0 .7 1.2 .6

Manufacturing ..................................................... 101.5 101.8 .3 .6 .6 .8 .6 .5 .8 .3

Durable goods ................................................ 101.8 101.8 .3 .7 .5 .7 .6 .7 1.0 .0

Nondurable goods .......................................... 101.0 101.8 .2 .4 .5 1.1 .6 .2 .5 .8

Service-providing industries5 .................................. 101.6 102.6 .5 .7 .5 .6 .6 .8 .8 1.0

Trade, transportation, and utilities6 .................... 100.8 102.0 .1 .6 .4 1.0 .7 .3 .4 1.2

Retail trade ..................................................... 100.8 101.8 .7 .6 .6 .8 .6 .5 .2 1.0

Information6 ........................................................ 101.6 102.6 .3 .7 .8 .2 .8 .8 .7 1.0

Financial activities6 ............................................. 101.9 102.5 1.0 .9 .7 .2 .7 1.1 .6 .6

Professional and business services6 .................. 102.3 102.9 .6 .5 .2 .0 .3 .9 1.4 .6

Education and health services6 .......................... 101.7 103.0 .6 .9 .7 .6 .8 .7 1.0 1.3

Education services ......................................... 102.0 102.7 1.3 1.0 .8 .9 .6 1.0 1.2 .7

Health care and social assistance7 ................ 101.7 103.0 .5 .9 .7 .6 .8 .7 1.0 1.3

Leisure and hospitality6 ...................................... 101.5 102.3 .7 .5 .8 .9 .6 .6 1.0 .8

State and local government workers

All workers .................................................................. 101.2 102.6 .5 .7 .6 .7 1.0 .4 .9 1.4

1 Includes workers in the private nonfarm economy except those in

private households, and workers in the public sector, except the federal

government. See "Technical note" for further explanation. 2 Includes the following occupational groups: management, business,

and financial; professional and related; sales and related; and office and

administrative support. 3 Includes the following occupational groups: farming, fishing, and

forestry; construction and extraction; installation, maintenance, and repair;

production; and transportation and material moving. 4 Includes mining, construction, and manufacturing. 5 Includes the following industries: wholesale trade; retail trade;

transportation and warehousing; utilities; information; finance and insurance;

real estate and rental and leasing; professional, scientific, and technical

services; management of companies and enterprises; administrative and

support and waste management and remediation services; education

services; health care and social assistance; arts, entertainment, and

recreation; accommodation and food services; and other services, except

public administration. 6 New series. Historical data are available beginning with March 2001. 7 Includes ambulatory health care services and social assistance, not

shown separately.
 9

Table 3. Employment Cost Index for benefits, by occupational group and industry

(Seasonally adjusted)

Occupational group and industry

Indexes (Dec.

2005 = 100) Percent changes for 3-months ended–

June

2006

Sep.

2006

Dec.

2004

Mar.

2005

June

2005

Sep.

2005

Dec.

2005

Mar.

2006

June

2006

Sep.

2006

Civilian workers

All workers1 ................................................................ 101.6 102.7 1.3 1.6 0.9 1.1 0.9 0.5 0.8 1.1

Private industry workers

All workers .................................................................. 101.5 102.5 1.2 1.5 .8 .9 .7 .4 .7 1.0

Occupational group

White-collar occupations2 ....................................... 101.5 102.5 1.5 1.4 1.0 1.2 1.0 -.1 .9 1.0

Blue-collar occupations3 ......................................... 101.4 102.3 1.3 .8 .6 .8 .6 .1 .9 .9

Industry

Goods-producing industries4 .................................. 100.2 101.3 1.7 1.6 1.2 .9 .0 -.8 .7 1.1

Manufacturing ..................................................... 99.6 100.6 .9 2.0 1.2 .8 .2 -1.4 .8 1.0

Service-providing industries5 .................................. 102.0 103.0 1.0 1.5 .6 .9 1.0 .9 .7 1.0

State and local government workers

All workers .................................................................. 102.1 103.6 1.5 1.6 1.4 1.6 1.5 .7 1.5 1.5

1 Includes workers in the private nonfarm economy except those in

private households, and workers in the public sector, except the federal

government. See "Technical note" for further explanation. 2 Includes the following occupational groups: management, business,

and financial; professional and related; sales and related; and office and

administrative support. 3 Includes the following occupational groups: farming, fishing, and

forestry; construction and extraction; installation, maintenance, and repair;

production; and transportation and material moving.

4 Includes mining, construction, and manufacturing. 5 Includes the following industries: wholesale trade; retail trade;

transportation and warehousing; utilities; information; finance and insurance;

real estate and rental and leasing; professional, scientific, and technical

services; management of companies and enterprises; administrative and

support and waste management and remediation services; education

services; health care and social assistance; arts, entertainment, and

recreation; accommodation and food services; and other services, except

public administration.
 10

Table 4. Employment Cost Index for total compensation1, for civilian workers, by occupational group and

industry

(Not seasonally adjusted)

Occupational group and industry

Indexes (Dec. 2005 = 100) Percent changes for–

Sep.

2005

June

2006

Sep.

2006

3-months ended– 12-months ended–

Sep.

2005

June

2006

Sep.

2006

Sep.

2005

June

2006

Sep.

2006

Civilian workers

All workers2 ................................................................ 99.4 101.6 102.7 0.8 0.9 1.1 3.0 3.0 3.3

Excluding sales occupations .............................. 99.5 101.6 102.8 .9 .8 1.2 3.2 3.0 3.3

Excluding incentive paid occupations3,4 ............ – 101.5 102.7 – .7 1.2 – – –

Occupational group

White-collar occupations5 ....................................... 99.4 101.6 102.8 .9 .8 1.2 3.2 3.1 3.4

Excluding sales occupations ...................... 99.4 101.7 103.0 .8 .8 1.3 3.3 3.1 3.6

Management, professional, and related6 ........... 99.4 101.6 103.0 .9 .7 1.4 3.3 3.1 3.6

Management, business, and financial ............ 99.7 101.9 102.7 .3 .6 .8 2.7 2.5 3.0

Professional and related ................................. 99.3 101.4 103.2 1.2 .7 1.8 3.8 3.4 3.9

Sales and office6 ................................................ 99.3 101.6 102.4 .9 1.1 .8 2.8 3.3 3.1

Sales and related6 .......................................... 99.2 101.1 101.7 1.3 1.2 .6 2.5 3.3 2.5

Office and administrative support ................... 99.4 101.9 102.8 .7 1.0 .9 3.1 3.2 3.4

Blue-collar occupations7 ......................................... 99.6 101.5 102.3 .7 .9 .8 2.8 2.6 2.7

Natural resources, construction, and

maintenance6,8 ................................................. 99.5 102.0 103.0 .7 1.2 1.0 3.2 3.2 3.5

Construction and extraction6 .......................... 99.4 102.0 103.0 .9 1.3 1.0 3.2 3.6 3.6

Installation, maintenance, and repair6 ............ 99.6 102.0 103.0 .5 1.1 1.0 3.1 2.9 3.4

Production, transportation, and material

moving6 ............................................................ 99.7 101.1 101.8 .7 .7 .7 2.5 2.1 2.1

Production6 ..................................................... 99.6 101.0 101.6 .5 .6 .6 2.4 1.9 2.0

Transportation and material moving6 ............. 99.8 101.3 102.2 1.0 .8 .9 2.7 2.5 2.4

Service occupations ............................................... 99.4 101.4 102.5 1.1 .6 1.1 3.0 3.2 3.1

Industry

Goods-producing industries9 .................................. 99.8 101.3 102.0 .8 1.0 .7 3.4 2.3 2.2

Manufacturing ..................................................... 99.8 101.0 101.4 .7 .9 .4 3.2 1.9 1.6

Service-providing industries10 ................................ 99.3 101.6 102.9 .8 .7 1.3 2.9 3.1 3.6

Education and health services6 .......................... 99.1 101.3 103.5 1.5 .7 2.2 3.4 3.8 4.4

Education services ......................................... 99.0 100.7 103.4 2.1 .5 2.7 3.7 3.8 4.4

Elementary and secondary schools6 .......... 98.9 100.5 103.5 2.3 .3 3.0 3.8 3.9 4.7

Junior colleges, colleges, 

universities, and professional schools6 .... 99.3 100.9 103.3 1.5 .5 2.4 3.4 3.2 4.0

Health care and social assistance11 .............. 99.3 102.0 103.5 .8 .9 1.5 3.1 3.6 4.2

Hospitals ..................................................... 99.3 101.9 103.2 1.1 .7 1.3 4.0 3.8 3.9

Nursing and residential care facilities ......... 99.2 101.4 102.6 .9 .4 1.2 3.2 3.2 3.4

Public administration .......................................... 99.0 101.2 102.4 1.5 .6 1.2 4.1 3.8 3.4

1 Includes wages, salaries, and employer costs for employee benefits. 2 Includes workers in the private nonfarm economy except those in

private households, and workers in the public sector, except the federal

government. See "Technical note" for further explanation. 3 New series. Data are available beginning with December 2005. 4 The index for this series is not strictly comparable with other series in

this table. See "Technical note" for further explanation. 5 Includes the following occupational groups: management, business,

and financial; professional and related; sales and related; and office and

administrative support. 6 New series. Historical data are available beginning with March 2001. 7 Includes the following occupational groups: farming, fishing, and

forestry; construction and extraction; installation, maintenance, and repair;

production; and transportation and material moving. 8 Includes farming, fishing, and forestry occupations, not shown

separately. 9 Includes mining, construction, and manufacturing. 10 Includes the following industries: wholesale trade; retail trade;

transportation and warehousing; utilities; information; finance and

insurance; real estate and rental and leasing; professional, scientific, and

technical services; management of companies and enterprises;

administrative and support and waste management and remediation

services; education services; health care and social assistance; arts,

entertainment, and recreation; accommodation and food services; other

services, except public administration; and public administration.

11 Includes ambulatory health care services and social assistance, not

shown separately.

NOTE: Dashes indicate data not available.
 11

Table 5. Employment Cost Index for total compensation1, for private industry workers, by occupational group

and industry

(Not seasonally adjusted)

Occupational group and industry

Indexes (Dec. 2005 = 100) Percent changes for–

Sep.

2005

June

2006

Sep.

2006

3-months ended– 12-months ended–

Sep.

2005

June

2006

Sep.

2006

Sep.

2005

June

2006

Sep.

2006

Private industry workers

All workers ...................................................................... 99.5 101.7 102.5 0.6 0.9 0.8 2.9 2.8 3.0

Excluding sales occupations .................................. 99.6 101.8 102.6 .6 .9 .8 3.0 2.8 3.0

Excluding incentive paid occupations2,3 ................ – 101.7 102.5 – .8 .8 – – –

Occupational group

White-collar occupations4 ........................................... 99.5 101.8 102.7 .6 .9 .9 3.1 2.9 3.2

Excluding sales occupations .......................... 99.6 101.9 102.9 .6 .8 1.0 3.2 2.9 3.3

Management, professional, and related5 ............... 99.6 101.9 102.9 .5 .8 1.0 3.2 2.8 3.3

Excluding incentive paid occupations2,3 ........ – 101.8 102.8 – .7 1.0 – – –

Management, business, and financial ................ 99.7 102.0 102.7 .1 .7 .7 2.5 2.4 3.0

Excluding incentive paid occupations2,3 ........ – 101.9 102.6 – .7 .7 – – –

Professional and related ..................................... 99.5 101.8 103.1 .7 .8 1.3 3.9 3.0 3.6

Sales and office5 .................................................... 99.3 101.6 102.3 .8 1.1 .7 2.8 3.1 3.0

Excluding incentive paid occupations2,3 ........ – 101.9 102.5 – 1.0 .6 – – –

Sales and related ................................................ 99.2 101.1 101.7 1.3 1.2 .6 2.5 3.3 2.5

Excluding incentive paid occupations2,3 ........ – 101.9 102.2 – 1.0 .3 – – –

Office and administrative support ....................... 99.5 101.9 102.7 .6 1.0 .8 3.1 3.0 3.2

Blue-collar occupations6 ............................................. 99.6 101.5 102.3 .6 .9 .8 2.6 2.5 2.7

Natural resources, construction, and

maintenance5,7 ..................................................... 99.5 102.1 103.0 .6 1.3 .9 3.1 3.2 3.5

Construction and extraction5 .............................. 99.5 102.2 103.1 .8 1.5 .9 3.2 3.5 3.6

Installation, maintenance, and repair5 ................ 99.6 102.1 103.0 .3 1.2 .9 3.0 2.8 3.4

Production, transportation, and material moving5 .. 99.7 101.1 101.7 .7 .7 .6 2.4 2.1 2.0

Excluding incentive paid occupations2,3 ........ – 101.1 101.7 – .7 .6 – – –

Production5 ......................................................... 99.6 101.0 101.6 .5 .6 .6 2.3 1.9 2.0

Excluding incentive paid occupations2,3 ........ – 101.0 101.5 – .6 .5 – – –

Transportation and material moving5 ................. 99.8 101.2 102.0 .8 .8 .8 2.4 2.2 2.2

Service occupations ................................................... 99.5 101.5 102.3 .5 .7 .8 2.4 2.5 2.8

Industry and occupational group

Goods-producing industries8 ...................................... 99.8 101.3 102.0 .8 1.0 .7 3.4 2.3 2.2

Excluding sales occupations .......................... 99.8 101.2 102.0 .7 .8 .8 3.5 2.1 2.2

Excluding incentive paid occupations2,3 ........ – 101.3 102.0 – .9 .7 – – –

White-collar occupations4 ....................................... 100.0 101.3 101.8 1.2 1.2 .5 4.9 2.5 1.8

Excluding sales occupations .......................... 100.1 100.9 101.8 1.0 .5 .9 5.5 1.8 1.7

Management, professional, and related5 ........... 100.2 100.7 101.6 1.0 .5 .9 6.0 1.5 1.4

Sales and office5 ................................................ 99.7 102.7 102.1 1.7 2.8 -.6 2.8 4.8 2.4

Blue-collar occupations6 ......................................... 99.7 101.4 102.1 .6 1.0 .7 2.7 2.3 2.4

Natural resources, construction, and

maintenance5,7 ................................................. 99.6 101.9 102.7 .7 1.3 .8 3.0 3.0 3.1

Production, transportation, and material

moving5 ............................................................ 99.8 101.0 101.6 .6 .7 .6 2.4 1.8 1.8

See footnotes at end of table.
 12

Table 5. Employment Cost Index for total compensation1, for private industry workers, by occupational group

and industry — Continued

(Not seasonally adjusted)

Occupational group and industry

Indexes (Dec. 2005 = 100) Percent changes for–

Sep.

2005

June

2006

Sep.

2006

3-months ended– 12-months ended–

Sep.

2005

June

2006

Sep.

2006

Sep.

2005

June

2006

Sep.

2006

Construction ........................................................... 99.7 101.9 103.0 1.2 1.2 1.1 3.3 3.5 3.3

Manufacturing ......................................................... 99.8 101.0 101.4 .7 .9 .4 3.2 1.9 1.6

White-collar occupations4 ................................... 99.9 101.2 101.3 1.1 1.3 .1 4.8 2.4 1.4

Excluding sales occupations ...................... 99.8 100.7 101.5 .9 .5 .8 4.8 1.8 1.7

Management, professional, and related5 ....... 99.8 100.5 101.3 .9 .5 .8 5.3 1.6 1.5

Sales and office5 ............................................ 99.9 102.8 101.3 1.2 3.3 -1.5 3.4 4.2 1.4

Blue-collar occupations6 ..................................... 99.7 100.9 101.5 .4 .7 .6 2.2 1.6 1.8

Natural resources, construction, and

maintenance5,7 ............................................. 99.5 100.8 101.5 .3 .7 .7 2.3 1.6 2.0

Production, transportation, and material

moving5 ........................................................ 99.8 100.9 101.5 .5 .7 .6 2.3 1.6 1.7

Durable goods .................................................... 99.8 100.9 101.1 .7 1.1 .2 3.4 1.8 1.3

Aircraft manufacturing .................................... 98.5 91.3 93.9 .3 .4 2.8 16.7 -7.0 -4.7

White-collar occupations4 ........................... 99.4 92.7 95.3 .2 .2 2.8 17.2 -6.6 -4.1

Blue-collar occupations6 ............................. 97.0 89.1 91.7 .4 .8 2.9 15.6 -7.8 -5.5

Nondurable goods .............................................. 99.7 101.1 101.9 .7 .5 .8 2.8 2.1 2.2

Service-providing industries9 ...................................... 99.5 101.8 102.7 .6 .8 .9 2.8 2.9 3.2

Excluding sales occupations .......................... 99.5 102.0 102.9 .5 .9 .9 2.7 3.0 3.4

Excluding incentive paid occupations2,3 ........ – 101.9 102.7 – .8 .8 – – –

White-collar occupations4 ....................................... 99.4 101.9 102.8 .5 .9 .9 2.8 3.0 3.4

Excluding sales occupations .......................... 99.5 102.1 103.0 .5 .9 .9 2.8 3.1 3.5

Management, professional, and related5 ........... 99.5 102.2 103.2 .4 .9 1.0 2.8 3.1 3.7

Sales and office5 ................................................ 99.3 101.5 102.3 .8 .9 .8 2.8 3.0 3.0

Blue-collar occupations6 ......................................... 99.5 101.7 102.6 .6 .9 .9 2.6 2.8 3.1

Natural resources, construction, and

maintenance5,7 ................................................. 99.4 102.5 103.6 .4 1.3 1.1 3.2 3.5 4.2

Production, transportation, and material

moving5 ............................................................ 99.6 101.3 101.9 .8 .7 .6 2.3 2.5 2.3

Service occupations ............................................... 99.5 101.5 102.3 .5 .6 .8 2.4 2.5 2.8

Trade, transportation, and utilities5 ........................ 99.4 101.4 102.4 .9 .6 1.0 2.6 2.9 3.0

Excluding incentive paid occupations2,3 .... – 101.9 102.5 – .8 .6 – – –

Wholesale trade .................................................. 99.2 100.8 102.4 1.5 .5 1.6 2.9 3.2 3.2

Excluding sales occupations ...................... 99.8 101.6 102.6 .4 .7 1.0 3.4 2.2 2.8

Excluding incentive paid occupations2,3 .... – 101.6 102.5 – .6 .9 – – –

Retail trade ......................................................... 99.5 101.2 101.9 .7 .6 .7 3.0 2.4 2.4

Excluding incentive paid occupations2,3 .... – 101.6 102.1 – .8 .5 – – –

Transportation and warehousing ........................ 99.7 101.0 101.6 1.1 .6 .6 1.3 2.4 1.9

Utilities ................................................................ 99.5 109.3 110.1 .2 1.4 .7 4.5 10.1 10.7

Information5 ............................................................ 99.5 102.1 103.0 .3 1.2 .9 3.0 2.9 3.5

Financial activities .................................................. 99.2 101.8 102.1 -.2 .6 .3 3.2 2.4 2.9

Excluding sales occupations ...................... 99.4 102.0 102.6 -.6 .3 .6 2.6 2.0 3.2

Excluding incentive paid occupations2,3 .... – 101.7 102.3 – .5 .6 – – –

Finance and insurance5 ..................................... 99.5 102.4 102.6 -.5 .9 .2 2.7 2.4 3.1

Credit intermediation and related

activities ........................................................ 99.5 102.3 102.4 -1.8 .9 .1 1.4 1.0 2.9

Excluding incentive paid occupations2,3 .... – 102.0 102.7 – .7 .7 – – –

Insurance carriers and related activities ......... 99.4 101.6 102.0 .0 .7 .4 3.8 2.2 2.6

Excluding sales occupations ...................... 99.5 101.5 101.9 .2 .6 .4 3.5 2.2 2.4

Excluding incentive paid occupations2,3 .... – 101.6 102.0 – .8 .4 – – –

Real estate and rental and leasing5 ................... 98.6 99.3 100.2 2.0 -.5 .9 8.0 2.7 1.6

See footnotes at end of table.
 13

Table 5. Employment Cost Index for total compensation1, for private industry workers, by occupational group

and industry — Continued

(Not seasonally adjusted)

Occupational group and industry

Indexes (Dec. 2005 = 100) Percent changes for–

Sep.

2005

June

2006

Sep.

2006

3-months ended– 12-months ended–

Sep.

2005

June

2006

Sep.

2006

Sep.

2005

June

2006

Sep.

2006

Excluding incentive paid occupations2,3 .... – 100.5 101.6 – -0.2 1.1 – – –

Professional and business services5 ...................... 99.6 102.2 102.9 0.1 1.1 .7 1.7 2.7 3.3

Professional, scientific, and technical services5 99.5 102.7 103.6 -.1 1.2 .9 1.3 3.1 4.1

Administrative and support and waste

management and remediation services5 .......... 99.9 101.9 102.1 .1 1.4 .2 1.8 2.1 2.2

Education and health services5 .............................. 99.3 101.8 103.2 .9 .8 1.4 3.3 3.5 3.9

Education services ............................................. 99.6 101.5 103.2 2.2 .8 1.7 4.2 4.1 3.6

Junior colleges, colleges, universities, and

professional schools5 ................................... 99.5 101.6 103.5 1.9 .7 1.9 3.6 4.1 4.0

Health care and social assistance10 .................. 99.3 101.9 103.2 .8 .8 1.3 3.1 3.5 3.9

Hospitals ......................................................... 99.2 102.0 103.2 1.0 .7 1.2 4.1 3.9 4.0

Nursing and residential care facilities ............. 99.1 101.4 102.4 .8 .4 1.0 2.9 3.2 3.3

Nursing care facilities2,3 ............................. – 101.2 102.0 – .4 .8 – – –

Leisure and hospitality5 .......................................... 99.6 101.3 102.4 .5 .7 1.1 2.3 2.2 2.8

Accommodation and food services5 ................... 99.5 101.4 102.5 .6 .9 1.1 2.4 2.5 3.0

Other services, except public administration5 ........ 99.9 102.7 103.6 1.3 1.3 .9 3.5 4.2 3.7

1 Includes wages, salaries, and employer costs for employee benefits. 2 New series. Data are available beginning with December 2005. 3 The index for this series is not strictly comparable with other series in

this table. See "Technical note" for further explanation. 4 Includes the following occupational groups: management, business,

and financial; professional and related; sales and related; and office and

administrative support. 5 New series. Historical data are available beginning with March 2001. 6 Includes the following occupational groups: farming, fishing, and

forestry; construction and extraction; installation, maintenance, and repair;

production; and transportation and material moving. 7 Includes farming, fishing, and forestry occupations, not shown

separately.

8 Includes mining, construction, and manufacturing. 9 Includes the following industries: wholesale trade; retail trade;

transportation and warehousing; utilities; information; finance and insurance;

real estate and rental and leasing; professional, scientific, and technical

services; management of companies and enterprises; administrative and

support and waste management and remediation services; education

services; health care and social assistance; arts, entertainment, and

recreation; accommodation and food services; and other services, except

public administration.

10 Includes ambulatory health care services and social assistance, not

shown separately.

NOTE: Dashes indicate data not available.
 14

Table 6. Employment Cost Index for total compensation1, for private industry workers, by bargaining status,

census region and division, and metropolitan area status

(Not seasonally adjusted)

Bargaining status, census region and division, and

metropolitan area status

Indexes (Dec. 2005 = 100) Percent changes for–

Sep.

2005

June

2006

Sep.

2006

3-months ended– 12-months ended–

Sep.

2005

June

2006

Sep.

2006

Sep.

2005

June

2006

Sep.

2006

Bargaining status

Union ...................................................................... 99.6 101.8 102.4 0.8 1.3 0.6 3.0 3.0 2.8

Blue-collar occupations2 ................................. 99.6 101.5 102.0 .7 1.3 .5 2.7 2.6 2.4

Goods-producing industries3 .............................. 99.6 101.2 101.8 .8 1.3 .6 3.0 2.4 2.2

Manufacturing ................................................. 99.7 100.1 100.5 .6 .8 .4 2.3 1.0 .8

Blue-collar occupations2 ............................. 99.7 100.2 100.5 .6 .8 .3 1.9 1.1 .8

Service-providing industries4 .............................. 99.6 102.2 102.9 .8 1.2 .7 3.1 3.4 3.3

Nonunion ................................................................ 99.5 101.7 102.6 .6 .8 .9 2.9 2.8 3.1

Blue-collar occupations2 ................................. 99.6 101.6 102.4 .5 .8 .8 2.6 2.5 2.8

Goods-producing industries3 .............................. 99.9 101.4 102.0 .9 .9 .6 3.6 2.4 2.1

Manufacturing ................................................. 99.8 101.3 101.7 .7 1.0 .4 3.5 2.2 1.9

Blue-collar occupations2 ............................. 99.7 101.3 102.1 .3 .6 .8 2.4 1.9 2.4

Service-providing industries4 .............................. 99.4 101.8 102.7 .5 .8 .9 2.6 2.9 3.3

Census region and division5

Northeast ................................................................ 99.2 101.8 102.5 .7 .9 .7 3.0 3.4 3.3

New England6 .................................................... – 101.4 102.1 – .7 .7 – – –

Middle Atlantic6 .................................................. – 101.9 102.6 – 1.0 .7 – – –

South ...................................................................... 99.7 101.6 102.8 .4 .6 1.2 2.7 2.3 3.1

South Atlantic6 .................................................... – 101.9 103.1 – .7 1.2 – – –

East South Central6 ............................................ – 100.9 101.5 – .2 .6 – – –

West South Central6 ........................................... – 101.4 102.7 – .7 1.3 – – –

Midwest .................................................................. 99.5 101.7 102.3 1.1 1.0 .6 3.0 3.4 2.8

East North Central6 ............................................ – 101.7 102.3 – 1.0 .6 – – –

West North Central6 ........................................... – 101.5 102.4 – .9 .9 – – –

West ....................................................................... 99.7 101.8 102.5 .4 1.2 .7 2.9 2.5 2.8

Mountain6 ........................................................... – 101.8 102.7 – .8 .9 – – –

Pacific6 ............................................................... – 101.8 102.5 – 1.3 .7 – – –

Metropolitan area status

Metropolitan areas7 ................................................ – 101.7 102.5 – .9 .8 – – –

Nonmetropolitan areas7 ......................................... – 101.5 102.6 – .7 1.1 – – –

1 Includes wages, salaries, and employer costs for employee benefits. 2 Includes the following occupational groups: farming, fishing, and

forestry; construction and extraction; installation, maintenance, and repair;

production; and transportation and material moving. 3 Includes mining, construction, and manufacturing. 4 Includes the following industries: wholesale trade; retail trade;

transportation and warehousing; utilities; information; finance and

insurance; real estate and rental and leasing; professional, scientific, and

technical services; management of companies and enterprises;

administrative and support and waste management and remediation

services; education services; health care and social assistance; arts,

entertainment, and recreation; accommodation and food services; and

other services, except public administration. 5 The states (including the District of Columbia) that comprise the

census divisions are: New England: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts,

New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont; Middle Atlantic: New Jersey,

New York, and Pennsylvania; South Atlantic: Delaware, District of

Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina,

Virginia, and West Virginia; East South Central: Alabama, Kentucky,

Mississippi, and Tennessee; West South Central: Arkansas, Louisiana,

Oklahoma, and Texas; East North Central: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio,

and Wisconsin; West North Central: Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri,

Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota; Mountain: Arizona, Colorado,

Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming; and Pacific:

Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon, and Washington. 6 New series. Data are available beginning with December 2005. 7 Data are available beginning with December 2005.

NOTE: The indexes for these series are not strictly comparable to those

for the aggregate, occupation, and industry series. (See "Technical

note" for further information.) Dashes indicate data not available.
 15

Table 7. Employment Cost Index for total compensation1, for State and local government workers, by

occupational group and industry

(Not seasonally adjusted)

Occupational group and industry

Indexes (Dec. 2005 = 100) Percent changes for–

Sep.

2005

June

2006

Sep.

2006

3-months ended– 12-months ended–

Sep.

2005

June

2006

Sep.

2006

Sep.

2005

June

2006

Sep.

2006

State and local government workers

All workers .................................................................. 99.1 100.9 103.2 2.0 0.4 2.3 3.9 3.8 4.1

Occupational group

White-collar occupations2 ....................................... 99.0 100.9 103.3 1.7 .5 2.4 3.6 3.7 4.3

Management, professional, and related3 ........... 99.0 100.8 103.3 1.7 .5 2.5 3.7 3.6 4.3

Professional and related ................................. 98.9 100.8 103.4 1.9 .6 2.6 3.6 3.8 4.6

Sales and office3 ................................................ 99.3 101.5 103.3 1.7 .6 1.8 3.8 4.0 4.0

Office and administrative support ................... 99.2 101.6 103.5 1.7 .6 1.9 3.8 4.2 4.3

Blue-collar occupations4 ......................................... 99.5 101.0 102.9 1.8 .4 1.9 4.4 3.4 3.4

Service occupations ............................................... 99.1 101.2 103.1 2.5 .6 1.9 4.4 4.7 4.0

Industry

Education and health services3 .......................... 99.0 100.8 103.7 2.1 .5 2.9 3.7 3.9 4.7

Education services ......................................... 98.9 100.5 103.5 2.1 .3 3.0 3.7 3.7 4.7

Schools5 ..................................................... 98.9 100.5 103.5 2.1 .3 3.0 3.6 3.7 4.7

Elementary and secondary schools ........ 98.8 100.5 103.6 2.3 .3 3.1 3.7 4.0 4.9

Health care and social assistance6 ................ 99.5 102.9 105.1 1.5 1.6 2.1 3.3 5.0 5.6

Hospitals ..................................................... 99.5 101.3 103.3 1.5 .4 2.0 3.5 3.4 3.8

Public administration .......................................... 99.0 101.2 102.4 1.5 .6 1.2 4.1 3.8 3.4

1 Includes wages, salaries, and employer costs for employee benefits. 2 Includes the following occupational groups: management, business,

and financial; professional and related; sales and related; and office and

administrative support. 3 New series. Historical data are available beginning with March 2001. 4 Includes the following occupational groups: farming, fishing, and

forestry; construction and extraction; installation, maintenance, and repair;

production; and transportation and material moving. 5 Includes elementary and secondary schools; junior colleges;

colleges, universities, and professional schools. 6 Includes ambulatory health care services and social assistance, not

shown separately.

NOTE: Dashes indicate data not available.
 16

Table 8. Employment Cost Index for wages and salaries, for civilian workers, by occupational group and

industry

(Not seasonally adjusted)

Occupational group and industry

Indexes (Dec. 2005 = 100) Percent changes for–

Sep.

2005

June

2006

Sep.

2006

3-months ended– 12-months ended–

Sep.

2005

June

2006

Sep.

2006

Sep.

2005

June

2006

Sep.

2006

Civilian workers

All workers1 ................................................................ 99.4 101.5 102.6 0.7 0.8 1.1 2.3 2.8 3.2

Excluding sales occupations .............................. 99.4 101.5 102.6 .6 .7 1.1 2.4 2.7 3.2

Excluding incentive paid occupations2,3 ............ – 101.5 102.5 – .8 1.0 – – –

Occupational group

White-collar occupations4 ....................................... 99.4 101.6 102.8 .8 .9 1.2 2.4 3.0 3.4

Excluding sales occupations ...................... 99.4 101.7 102.9 .6 .9 1.2 2.4 2.9 3.5

Management, professional, and related5 ........... 99.4 101.6 102.9 .6 .8 1.3 2.4 2.8 3.5

Management, business, and financial ............ 99.6 102.0 102.7 .1 .8 .7 1.7 2.5 3.1

Professional and related ................................. 99.3 101.4 103.1 1.0 .8 1.7 2.8 3.2 3.8

Sales and office5 ................................................ 99.3 101.6 102.4 .9 1.2 .8 2.2 3.3 3.1

Sales and related5 .......................................... 99.2 101.3 102.0 1.4 1.5 .7 1.8 3.6 2.8

Office and administrative support ................... 99.4 101.8 102.6 .6 1.0 .8 2.4 3.0 3.2

Blue-collar occupations6 ......................................... 99.5 101.4 102.3 .7 .8 .9 2.2 2.6 2.8

Natural resources, construction, and

maintenance5,7 ................................................. 99.4 101.8 102.7 .7 1.1 .9 2.5 3.1 3.3

Construction and extraction5 .......................... 99.3 101.9 102.9 .9 1.2 1.0 2.6 3.6 3.6

Installation, maintenance, and repair5 ............ 99.5 101.6 102.6 .5 1.0 1.0 2.3 2.6 3.1

Production, transportation, and material

moving5 ............................................................ 99.6 101.2 101.9 .7 .6 .7 2.0 2.3 2.3

Production5 ..................................................... 99.5 101.2 101.8 .6 .5 .6 2.2 2.3 2.3

Transportation and material moving5 ............. 99.7 101.2 102.1 .8 .7 .9 1.8 2.3 2.4

Service occupations ............................................... 99.5 101.2 102.2 .8 .7 1.0 2.5 2.5 2.7

Industry

Goods-producing industries8 .................................. 99.5 101.8 102.3 .8 1.1 .5 2.4 3.1 2.8

Manufacturing ..................................................... 99.6 101.7 101.9 .7 1.0 .2 2.3 2.8 2.3

Service-providing industries9 .................................. 99.4 101.5 102.7 .7 .8 1.2 2.3 2.8 3.3

Education and health services5 .......................... 99.1 101.1 103.1 1.1 .7 2.0 2.6 3.2 4.0

Education services ......................................... 99.0 100.5 103.0 1.4 .3 2.5 2.6 3.0 4.0

Elementary and secondary schools5 .......... 98.9 100.3 102.9 1.6 .3 2.6 2.5 3.1 4.0

Junior colleges, colleges, 

universities, and professional schools5 .... 99.3 100.9 103.0 1.1 .4 2.1 2.8 2.7 3.7

Health care and social assistance10 .............. 99.2 101.8 103.2 .7 1.0 1.4 2.6 3.4 4.0

Hospitals ..................................................... 99.2 101.7 102.9 1.0 .8 1.2 3.3 3.6 3.7

Nursing and residential care facilities ......... 99.1 101.2 102.2 .7 .5 1.0 3.0 2.8 3.1

Public administration .......................................... 99.3 101.1 102.0 1.0 .6 .9 2.9 2.8 2.7

1 Includes workers in the private nonfarm economy except those in

private households, and workers in the public sector, except the federal

government. See "Technical note" for further explanation. 2 New series. Data are available beginning with December 2005. 3 The index for this series is not strictly comparable with other series in

this table. See "Technical note" for further explanation. 4 Includes the following occupational groups: management, business,

and financial; professional and related; sales and related; and office and

administrative support. 5 New series. Historical data are available beginning with March 2001. 6 Includes the following occupational groups: farming, fishing, and

forestry; construction and extraction; installation, maintenance, and repair;

production; and transportation and material moving. 7 Includes farming, fishing, and forestry occupations, not shown

separately. 8 Includes mining, construction, and manufacturing. 9 Includes the following industries: wholesale trade; retail trade;

transportation and warehousing; utilities; information; finance and

insurance; real estate and rental and leasing; professional, scientific, and

technical services; management of companies and enterprises;

administrative and support and waste management and remediation

services; education services; health care and social assistance; arts,

entertainment, and recreation; accommodation and food services; other

services, except public administration; and public administration.

10 Includes ambulatory health care services and social assistance, not

shown separately.

NOTE: Dashes indicate data not available.
 17

Table 9. Employment Cost Index for wages and salaries, for private industry workers, by occupational group and

industry

(Not seasonally adjusted)

Occupational group and industry

Indexes (Dec. 2005 = 100) Percent changes for–

Sep.

2005

June

2006

Sep.

2006

3-months ended– 12-months ended–

Sep.

2005

June

2006

Sep.

2006

Sep.

2005

June

2006

Sep.

2006

Private industry workers

All workers ...................................................................... 99.5 101.7 102.5 0.6 1.0 0.8 2.3 2.8 3.0

Excluding sales occupations .................................. 99.5 101.7 102.6 .5 .8 .9 2.3 2.7 3.1

Excluding incentive paid occupations1,2 ................ – 101.7 102.5 – .9 .8 – – –

Occupational group

White-collar occupations3 ........................................... 99.5 101.8 102.7 .6 1.0 .9 2.3 2.9 3.2

Excluding sales occupations .......................... 99.5 102.0 102.9 .4 1.0 .9 2.4 2.9 3.4

Management, professional, and related4 ............... 99.6 102.0 103.0 .4 .9 1.0 2.4 2.8 3.4

Excluding incentive paid occupations1,2 ........ – 101.9 102.9 – .9 1.0 – – –

Management, business, and financial ................ 99.5 102.2 102.8 -.2 .9 .6 1.4 2.5 3.3

Excluding incentive paid occupations1,2 ........ – 102.0 102.6 – .9 .6 – – –

Professional and related ..................................... 99.6 101.8 103.1 .8 .9 1.3 3.0 3.0 3.5

Sales and office4 .................................................... 99.3 101.6 102.4 .8 1.2 .8 2.2 3.1 3.1

Excluding incentive paid occupations1,2 ........ – 101.8 102.4 – 1.0 .6 – – –

Sales and related ................................................ 99.2 101.3 102.0 1.4 1.5 .7 1.8 3.6 2.8

Excluding incentive paid occupations1,2 ........ – 101.8 102.2 – .9 .4 – – –

Office and administrative support ....................... 99.4 101.9 102.6 .4 1.0 .7 2.4 2.9 3.2

Blue-collar occupations5 ............................................. 99.5 101.5 102.2 .7 .9 .7 2.2 2.7 2.7

Natural resources, construction, and

maintenance4,6 ..................................................... 99.4 101.8 102.8 .7 1.1 1.0 2.4 3.1 3.4

Construction and extraction4 .............................. 99.3 102.0 103.0 .8 1.3 1.0 2.5 3.6 3.7

Installation, maintenance, and repair4 ................ 99.5 101.6 102.6 .4 .9 1.0 2.3 2.5 3.1

Production, transportation, and material moving4 .. 99.6 101.2 101.8 .7 .6 .6 2.0 2.3 2.2

Excluding incentive paid occupations1,2 ........ – 101.1 101.7 – .5 .6 – – –

Production4 ......................................................... 99.5 101.2 101.7 .6 .5 .5 2.2 2.3 2.2

Excluding incentive paid occupations1,2 ........ – 101.2 101.7 – .6 .5 – – –

Transportation and material moving4 ................. 99.7 101.2 102.0 .8 .8 .8 1.8 2.3 2.3

Service occupations ................................................... 99.6 101.3 102.0 .6 .7 .7 2.3 2.3 2.4

Industry and occupational group

Goods-producing industries7 ...................................... 99.5 101.8 102.3 .8 1.1 .5 2.4 3.1 2.8

Excluding sales occupations .......................... 99.5 101.7 102.3 .7 .9 .6 2.5 2.9 2.8

Excluding incentive paid occupations1,2 ........ – 101.7 102.3 – .9 .6 – – –

White-collar occupations3 ....................................... 99.7 102.2 102.3 1.2 1.5 .1 2.4 3.8 2.6

Excluding sales occupations .......................... 99.6 101.8 102.5 .9 .7 .7 2.8 3.1 2.9

Management, professional, and related4 ........... 99.7 101.7 102.4 .9 .6 .7 2.8 2.9 2.7

Sales and office4 ................................................ 99.7 103.4 102.2 1.8 3.6 -1.2 1.4 5.6 2.5

Blue-collar occupations5 ......................................... 99.4 101.6 102.2 .6 .9 .6 2.3 2.8 2.8

Natural resources, construction, and

maintenance4,6 ................................................. 99.4 101.9 102.7 .8 1.2 .8 2.5 3.3 3.3

Production, transportation, and material

moving4 ............................................................ 99.5 101.3 101.9 .6 .6 .6 2.2 2.4 2.4

See footnotes at end of table.
 18

Table 9. Employment Cost Index for wages and salaries, for private industry workers, by occupational group and

industry — Continued

(Not seasonally adjusted)

Occupational group and industry

Indexes (Dec. 2005 = 100) Percent changes for–

Sep.

2005

June

2006

Sep.

2006

3-months ended– 12-months ended–

Sep.

2005

June

2006

Sep.

2006

Sep.

2005

June

2006

Sep.

2006

Construction ........................................................... 99.4 102.0 102.9 1.1 1.4 0.9 2.5 3.8 3.5

Manufacturing ......................................................... 99.6 101.7 101.9 .7 1.0 .2 2.3 2.8 2.3

White-collar occupations3 ................................... 99.9 102.2 101.9 1.0 1.6 -.3 2.5 3.3 2.0

Excluding sales occupations ...................... 99.8 101.7 102.3 .8 .6 .6 2.5 2.7 2.5

Management, professional, and related4 ....... 99.9 101.5 102.2 1.0 .4 .7 2.6 2.6 2.3

Sales and office4 ............................................ 100.0 103.8 101.1 1.4 4.3 -2.6 2.2 5.3 1.1

Blue-collar occupations5 ..................................... 99.4 101.3 101.9 .5 .6 .6 2.1 2.4 2.5

Natural resources, construction, and

maintenance4,6 ............................................. 99.1 101.7 102.3 .5 .8 .6 2.4 3.1 3.2

Production, transportation, and material

moving4 ........................................................ 99.5 101.3 101.8 .5 .6 .5 2.2 2.3 2.3

Durable goods .................................................... 99.6 101.9 101.9 .7 1.2 .0 2.3 3.0 2.3

Aircraft manufacturing .................................... 99.5 102.5 102.9 .4 .6 .4 2.6 3.4 3.4

White-collar occupations3 ........................... 99.4 103.4 103.6 .2 .3 .2 3.1 4.2 4.2

Blue-collar occupations5 ............................. 99.6 101.1 101.8 .7 1.2 .7 1.8 2.2 2.2

Nondurable goods .............................................. 99.7 101.2 101.8 .9 .6 .6 2.3 2.4 2.1

Service-providing industries8 ...................................... 99.5 101.7 102.6 .5 .9 .9 2.3 2.7 3.1

Excluding sales occupations .......................... 99.5 101.8 102.7 .4 .9 .9 2.2 2.7 3.2

Excluding incentive paid occupations1,2 ........ – 101.7 102.5 – .8 .8 – – –

White-collar occupations3 ....................................... 99.4 101.8 102.8 .5 1.0 1.0 2.3 2.9 3.4

Excluding sales occupations .......................... 99.5 102.0 103.0 .3 1.0 1.0 2.3 2.8 3.5

Management, professional, and related4 ........... 99.6 102.0 103.1 .4 .9 1.1 2.3 2.8 3.5

Sales and office4 ................................................ 99.3 101.4 102.4 .8 .9 1.0 2.3 2.9 3.1

Blue-collar occupations5 ......................................... 99.6 101.3 102.2 .7 .8 .9 1.9 2.4 2.6

Natural resources, construction, and

maintenance4,6 ................................................. 99.4 101.8 103.0 .5 1.1 1.2 2.2 2.9 3.6

Production, transportation, and material

moving4 ............................................................ 99.7 101.0 101.7 .8 .6 .7 1.8 2.1 2.0

Service occupations ............................................... 99.6 101.3 102.0 .5 .7 .7 2.3 2.2 2.4

Trade, transportation, and utilities4 ........................ 99.5 100.9 102.1 1.1 .5 1.2 2.3 2.5 2.6

Excluding incentive paid occupations1,2 .... – 101.4 102.1 – .7 .7 – – –

Wholesale trade .................................................. 99.0 100.7 102.7 1.6 .5 2.0 1.7 3.4 3.7

Excluding sales occupations ...................... 99.6 101.8 102.9 .3 .9 1.1 2.2 2.5 3.3

Excluding incentive paid occupations1,2 .... – 101.8 102.7 – .7 .9 – – –

Retail trade ......................................................... 99.6 100.9 101.9 .8 .4 1.0 2.8 2.1 2.3

Excluding incentive paid occupations1,2 .... – 101.4 102.0 – .7 .6 – – –

Transportation and warehousing ........................ 99.9 100.7 101.4 1.1 .6 .7 1.4 1.9 1.5

Utilities ................................................................ 99.5 102.1 103.0 .3 1.3 .9 2.5 2.9 3.5

Information4 ............................................................ 99.3 101.7 102.6 .1 .7 .9 2.0 2.5 3.3

Financial activities .................................................. 99.4 102.3 102.5 -.4 1.0 .2 2.6 2.5 3.1

Excluding sales occupations ...................... 99.5 102.6 103.1 -1.1 .7 .5 1.5 2.0 3.6

Excluding incentive paid occupations1,2 .... – 102.0 102.6 – .8 .6 – – –

Finance and insurance4 ..................................... 99.7 102.8 102.9 -1.0 1.2 .1 1.4 2.1 3.2

Credit intermediation and related

activities ........................................................ 99.6 102.9 102.7 -2.5 1.4 -.2 .3 .7 3.1

Excluding incentive paid occupations1,2 .... – 102.3 102.9 – 1.0 .6 – – –

Insurance carriers and related activities ......... 99.7 101.9 102.3 .1 .9 .4 2.9 2.3 2.6

Excluding sales occupations ...................... 99.8 101.9 102.2 .2 .8 .3 2.6 2.3 2.4

Excluding incentive paid occupations1,2 .... – 101.8 102.2 – .9 .4 – – –

Real estate and rental and leasing4 ................... 98.3 99.9 100.8 2.2 .1 .9 8.4 3.8 2.5

See footnotes at end of table.
 19

Table 9. Employment Cost Index for wages and salaries, for private industry workers, by occupational group and

industry — Continued

(Not seasonally adjusted)

Occupational group and industry

Indexes (Dec. 2005 = 100) Percent changes for–

Sep.

2005

June

2006

Sep.

2006

3-months ended– 12-months ended–

Sep.

2005

June

2006

Sep.

2006

Sep.

2005

June

2006

Sep.

2006

Excluding incentive paid occupations1,2 .... – 101.5 102.5 – 0.6 1.0 – – –

Professional and business services4 ...................... 99.7 102.3 103.0 0.0 1.3 .7 1.2 2.6 3.3

Professional, scientific, and technical services4 99.6 102.7 103.7 -.1 1.4 1.0 .9 3.0 4.1

Administrative and support and waste

management and remediation services4 .......... 100.0 101.7 102.0 -.1 1.2 .3 1.4 1.6 2.0

Education and health services4 .............................. 99.3 101.6 103.0 .9 .9 1.4 2.9 3.3 3.7

Education services ............................................. 99.7 101.4 103.1 1.9 .7 1.7 3.9 3.7 3.4

Junior colleges, colleges, universities, and

professional schools4 ................................... 99.5 101.4 103.4 1.7 .5 2.0 3.2 3.7 3.9

Health care and social assistance9 .................... 99.2 101.6 103.0 .6 .9 1.4 2.7 3.0 3.8

Hospitals ......................................................... 99.1 101.8 102.9 1.0 .9 1.1 3.6 3.8 3.8

Nursing and residential care facilities ............. 99.1 101.3 102.2 .7 .6 .9 2.8 2.9 3.1

Nursing care facilities1,2 ............................. – 101.2 102.1 – .5 .9 – – –

Leisure and hospitality4 .......................................... 99.5 101.3 102.3 .7 .7 1.0 2.4 2.5 2.8

Accommodation and food services4 ................... 99.3 101.3 102.2 1.0 .8 .9 2.7 3.1 2.9

Other services, except public administration4 ........ 99.8 102.6 103.4 1.4 1.3 .8 3.3 4.3 3.6

1 New series. Data are available beginning with December 2005. 2 The index for this series is not strictly comparable with other series in

this table. See "Technical note" for further explanation. 3 Includes the following occupational groups: management, business,

and financial; professional and related; sales and related; and office and

administrative support. 4 New series. Historical data are available beginning with March 2001. 5 Includes the following occupational groups: farming, fishing, and

forestry; construction and extraction; installation, maintenance, and repair;

production; and transportation and material moving. 6 Includes farming, fishing, and forestry occupations, not shown

separately. 7 Includes mining, construction, and manufacturing.

8 Includes the following industries: wholesale trade; retail trade;

transportation and warehousing; utilities; information; finance and insurance;

real estate and rental and leasing; professional, scientific, and technical

services; management of companies and enterprises; administrative and

support and waste management and remediation services; education

services; health care and social assistance; arts, entertainment, and

recreation; accommodation and food services; and other services, except

public administration. 9 Includes ambulatory health care services and social assistance, not

shown separately.

NOTE: Dashes indicate data not available.
 20

Table 10. Employment Cost Index for wages and salaries, for private industry workers, by bargaining status,

census region and division, and metropolitan area status

(Not seasonally adjusted)

Bargaining status, census region and division, and

metropolitan area status

Indexes (Dec. 2005 = 100) Percent changes for–

Sep.

2005

June

2006

Sep.

2006

3-months ended– 12-months ended–

Sep.

2005

June

2006

Sep.

2006

Sep.

2005

June

2006

Sep.

2006

Bargaining status

Union ...................................................................... 99.5 101.2 101.7 0.8 0.9 0.5 2.5 2.5 2.2

Blue-collar occupations1 ................................. 99.4 101.1 101.5 .7 .9 .4 2.1 2.4 2.1

Goods-producing industries2 .............................. 99.2 101.6 101.9 .7 1.1 .3 2.4 3.1 2.7

Manufacturing ................................................. 99.0 101.2 101.4 .7 .6 .2 2.1 3.0 2.4

Blue-collar occupations1 ............................. 99.0 101.2 101.2 .6 .6 .0 2.1 2.8 2.2

Service-providing industries3 .............................. 99.7 100.9 101.6 .7 .8 .7 2.5 1.9 1.9

Nonunion ................................................................ 99.5 101.8 102.7 .6 1.0 .9 2.3 2.9 3.2

Blue-collar occupations1 ................................. 99.5 101.6 102.6 .6 .8 1.0 2.2 2.7 3.1

Goods-producing industries2 .............................. 99.6 101.9 102.4 .9 1.2 .5 2.4 3.2 2.8

Manufacturing ................................................. 99.8 101.8 102.0 .8 1.1 .2 2.4 2.8 2.2

Blue-collar occupations1 ............................. 99.7 101.4 102.3 .5 .6 .9 2.3 2.2 2.6

Service-providing industries3 .............................. 99.5 101.7 102.7 .5 .9 1.0 2.3 2.7 3.2

Census region and division4

Northeast ................................................................ 99.2 101.7 102.5 .6 .9 .8 2.2 3.1 3.3

New England5 .................................................... – 101.5 102.3 – .8 .8 – – –

Middle Atlantic5 .................................................. – 101.7 102.5 – .9 .8 – – –

South ...................................................................... 99.7 101.6 102.9 .4 .6 1.3 2.3 2.3 3.2

South Atlantic5 .................................................... – 101.9 103.2 – .6 1.3 – – –

East South Central5 ............................................ – 101.5 102.1 – .8 .6 – – –

West South Central5 ........................................... – 101.2 102.7 – .6 1.5 – – –

Midwest .................................................................. 99.4 101.4 102.0 1.2 1.0 .6 2.6 3.3 2.6

East North Central5 ............................................ – 101.4 101.9 – 1.1 .5 – – –

West North Central5 ........................................... – 101.5 102.4 – .9 .9 – – –

West ....................................................................... 99.6 102.1 102.7 .3 1.4 .6 1.9 2.8 3.1

Mountain5 ........................................................... – 101.7 102.8 – 1.1 1.1 – – –

Pacific5 ............................................................... – 102.2 102.7 – 1.4 .5 – – –

Metropolitan area status

Metropolitan areas6 ................................................ – 101.7 102.5 – 1.0 .8 – – –

Nonmetropolitan areas6 ......................................... – 101.6 102.6 – .7 1.0 – – –

1 Includes the following occupational groups: farming, fishing, and

forestry; construction and extraction; installation, maintenance, and repair;

production; and transportation and material moving. 2 Includes mining, construction, and manufacturing. 3 Includes the following industries: wholesale trade; retail trade;

transportation and warehousing; utilities; information; finance and

insurance; real estate and rental and leasing; professional, scientific, and

technical services; management of companies and enterprises;

administrative and support and waste management and remediation

services; education services; health care and social assistance; arts,

entertainment, and recreation; accommodation and food services; and

other services, except public administration. 4 The states (including the District of Columbia) that comprise the

census divisions are: New England: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts,

New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont; Middle Atlantic: New Jersey,

New York, and Pennsylvania; South Atlantic: Delaware, District of

Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina,

Virginia, and West Virginia; East South Central: Alabama, Kentucky,

Mississippi, and Tennessee; West South Central: Arkansas, Louisiana,

Oklahoma, and Texas; East North Central: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio,

and Wisconsin; West North Central: Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri,

Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota; Mountain: Arizona, Colorado,

Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming; and Pacific:

Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon, and Washington. 5 New series. Data are available beginning with December 2005. 6 Data are available beginning with December 2005.

NOTE: The indexes for these series are not strictly comparable to those

for the aggregate, occupation, and industry series. (See "Technical

note" for further information.) Dashes indicate data not available.
 21

Table 11. Employment Cost Index for wages and salaries, for State and local government workers, by

occupational group and industry

(Not seasonally adjusted)

Occupational group and industry

Indexes (Dec. 2005 = 100) Percent changes for–

Sep.

2005

June

2006

Sep.

2006

3-months ended– 12-months ended–

Sep.

2005

June

2006

Sep.

2006

Sep.

2005

June

2006

Sep.

2006

State and local government workers

All workers .................................................................. 99.1 100.8 102.8 1.3 0.5 2.0 2.6 3.1 3.7

Occupational group

White-collar occupations1 ....................................... 99.0 100.7 102.8 1.2 .4 2.1 2.5 3.0 3.8

Management, professional, and related2 ........... 99.0 100.7 102.9 1.2 .5 2.2 2.5 3.0 3.9

Professional and related ................................. 98.9 100.7 103.0 1.2 .5 2.3 2.4 3.1 4.1

Sales and office2 ................................................ 99.4 101.2 102.6 1.4 .6 1.4 2.2 3.3 3.2

Office and administrative support ................... 99.3 101.4 102.7 1.4 .7 1.3 2.3 3.6 3.4

Blue-collar occupations3 ......................................... 99.5 101.0 102.6 1.2 .3 1.6 2.9 2.7 3.1

Service occupations ............................................... 99.3 100.8 102.4 1.6 .5 1.6 3.0 3.2 3.1

Industry

Education and health services2 .......................... 99.0 100.7 103.1 1.4 .5 2.4 2.5 3.2 4.1

Education services ......................................... 98.9 100.4 103.0 1.4 .3 2.6 2.4 3.0 4.1

Schools4 ..................................................... 98.9 100.4 103.0 1.4 .3 2.6 2.4 3.0 4.1

Elementary and secondary schools ........ 98.9 100.3 103.0 1.7 .3 2.7 2.5 3.2 4.1

Health care and social assistance5 ................ 99.4 103.0 104.8 .9 2.0 1.7 2.4 4.6 5.4

Hospitals ..................................................... 99.4 101.4 103.1 .8 .5 1.7 2.4 2.8 3.7

Public administration .......................................... 99.3 101.1 102.0 1.0 .6 .9 2.9 2.8 2.7

1 Includes the following occupational groups: management, business,

and financial; professional and related; sales and related; and office and

administrative support. 2 New series. Historical data are available beginning with March 2001. 3 Includes the following occupational groups: farming, fishing, and

forestry; construction and extraction; installation, maintenance, and repair;

production; and transportation and material moving.

4 Includes elementary and secondary schools; junior colleges;

colleges, universities, and professional schools. 5 Includes ambulatory health care services and social assistance, not

shown separately.

NOTE: Dashes indicate data not available.
 22

Table 12. Employment Cost Index for benefits, by occupational group, industry, and bargaining status

(Not seasonally adjusted)

Occupational group, industry, and bargaining status

Indexes (Dec. 2005 = 100) Percent changes for–

Sep.

2005

June

2006

Sep.

2006

3-months ended– 12-months ended–

Sep.

2005

June

2006

Sep.

2006

Sep.

2005

June

2006

Sep.

2006

Civilian workers

All workers1 ................................................................ 99.5 101.6 102.8 1.2 0.7 1.2 5.0 3.4 3.3

Private industry workers

All workers .................................................................. 99.7 101.7 102.5 .7 .7 .8 4.5 2.7 2.8

Occupational group

White-collar occupations2 ....................................... 99.6 101.7 102.5 .8 .6 .8 5.2 2.9 2.9

Management, professional, and related3 ........... 99.8 101.8 102.8 .8 .5 1.0 5.7 2.8 3.0

Sales and office3 ................................................ 99.3 101.6 102.0 .8 .8 .4 4.3 3.1 2.7

Blue-collar occupations4 ......................................... 99.9 101.7 102.3 .6 1.2 .6 3.6 2.4 2.4

Natural resources, construction, and

maintenance3,5 ................................................. 99.8 102.7 103.5 .5 1.6 .8 4.6 3.4 3.7

Production, transportation, and material

moving3 ............................................................ 100.0 101.0 101.6 .7 .9 .6 3.0 1.7 1.6

Service occupations ............................................... 99.5 102.2 103.0 .6 .7 .8 2.9 3.3 3.5

Industry

Goods-producing industries6 .................................. 100.4 100.4 101.3 .8 .8 .9 5.7 .8 .9

Manufacturing ..................................................... 100.0 99.7 100.5 .6 .7 .8 4.9 .3 .5

Aircraft manufacturing .................................... 97.4 79.2 84.3 .2 .1 6.4 37.0 -18.5 -13.4

White-collar occupations2 ....................... 99.4 80.6 86.0 .2 .0 6.7 39.2 -18.8 -13.5

Blue-collar occupations4 ......................... 94.6 77.4 82.0 .2 .4 5.9 34.0 -18.0 -13.3

Service-providing industries7 .................................. 99.4 102.3 103.0 .7 .8 .7 4.1 3.6 3.6

Bargaining status

Union ...................................................................... 99.8 102.7 103.4 .9 1.9 .7 4.0 3.8 3.6

Nonunion ................................................................ 99.6 101.5 102.3 .6 .5 .8 4.6 2.5 2.7

State and local government workers

All workers .................................................................. 99.0 101.3 104.1 3.1 .6 2.8 6.5 5.5 5.2

1 Includes workers in the private nonfarm economy except those in

private households, and workers in the public sector, except the federal

government. See "Technical note" for further explanation. 2 Includes the following occupational groups: management, business,

and financial; professional and related; sales and related; and office and

administrative support. 3 New series. Historical data are available beginning with March 2001. 4 Includes the following occupational groups: farming, fishing, and

forestry; construction and extraction; installation, maintenance, and repair;

production; and transportation and material moving. 5 Includes farming, fishing, and forestry occupations, not shown

separately.

6 Includes mining, construction, and manufacturing. 7 Includes the following industries: wholesale trade; retail trade;

transportation and warehousing; utilities; information; finance and

insurance; real estate and rental and leasing; professional, scientific, and

technical services; management of companies and enterprises;

administrative and support and waste management and remediation

services; education services; health care and social assistance; arts,

entertainment, and recreation; accommodation and food services; and

other services, except public administration.

NOTE: Dashes indicate data not available.
 23

TECHNICAL NOTE

The Employment Cost Index (ECI) is a measure of the change in the cost of labor, free from the 

influence of employment shifts among occupations and industries. The compensation series includes changes 

in wages and salaries and employer costs for employee benefits. The wage and salary series and the benefit 

cost series provide the changes for the two components of compensation. 

Wages and salaries are defined as the hourly straight-time wage rate or, for workers not paid on an 

hourly basis, straight-time earnings divided by the corresponding hours. Straight-time wage and salary rates 

are total earnings before payroll deductions, excluding premium pay for overtime and for work on weekends 

and holidays, shift differentials, and nonproduction bonuses such as lump-sum payments provided in lieu of 

wage increases. Production bonuses, incentive earnings, commission payments, and cost-of-living 

adjustments are included in straight-time wage and salary rates. 

Benefits covered by the ECI are: Paid leave—vacations, holidays, sick leave, and other leave; 

supplemental pay—premium pay for work in addition to the regular work schedule (such as overtime, 

weekends, and holidays), shift differentials, and nonproduction bonuses (such as referral bonuses and 

attendance bonuses); insurance benefits—life, health, short-term disability, and long-term disability; retirement 

and savings benefits—defined benefit and defined contribution plans; and legally required benefits—Social 

Security, Medicare, and federal and state unemployment insurance. 

The collection of severance pay and supplemental unemployment insurance benefits was discontinued 

and new industry and occupational definitions were introduced with the release of the March 2006 estimates. 

For more information on the impact of changes on the definition of compensation measures used in the ECI, 

the comparability of old with new series, and an assessment of the statistical reliability of specific ECI series, 

see the article, “Employment Cost Index publication plans” in the April 2006 issue of the Monthly Labor 

Review. 

Additional series on “excluding incentive paid occupations” were introduced with the release of the 

March 2006 estimates. These series allow users to better understand underlying trends in compensation by 

removing quarter-to-quarter variability that is related to the way workers are paid. For more information, see 

the article, “The Role of Incentive Pay in the Volatility of the Employment Cost Index” in the Summer 2001 

issue of Compensation and Working Conditions. 

The ECI provides data for the civilian economy, which includes the total private nonfarm economy 

excluding private households, and the public sector excluding the federal government. The private industry 

series and the state and local government series provide data for the two sectors separately. 

Sample establishments are classified by industry categories based on the 2002 North American Industry 

Classification system (NAICS), as defined by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget. Within a sample 

establishment, specific job categories are selected and classified into about 800 occupational classifications 

according to the 2000 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system. Individual occupations are 

combined to represent one of ten intermediate aggregations, such as professional and related occupations, or 

one of five higher-level aggregations such as management, professional, and related occupations. For more 

detailed information on NAICS and SOC, including background definitions, see the BLS Web sites: 

http://www.bls.gov/bls/naics.htm and http://www.bls.gov/soc/home.htm. 

To be included in the ECI, employees in occupations must receive cash payments from the establishment 

for services performed and the establishment must pay the employer’s portion of Medicare taxes on that 

individual’s wages. Major exclusions from the survey are the self-employed, individuals who set their own 

pay (for example, proprietors, owners, major stockholders, and partners in unincorporated firms), volunteers, 

unpaid workers, family members being paid token wages, individuals receiving long-term disability 

compensation, and U.S. citizens working overseas. 

Data for the September 2006 quarter were collected from a probability sample of approximately 49,000 

occupational observations within about 11,000 sample establishments in private industry and approximately 

3,400 occupations within about 800 sample establishments in state and local governments. Data are collected 

for the pay period including the 12th day of the survey months of March, June, September, and December. 
 24

When respondents do not provide all the data needed, a procedure for assigning missing values is 

applied in the ECI. An article in the April 2006 issue of the Monthly Labor Review, “Accounting for missing 

data in the Employment Cost Index” describes the methodological changes in the imputation procedure that 

were implemented with the publication of the March 2006 index. 

Fixed employment weights are used each quarter to calculate the most aggregate series—civilian, 

private, and state and local government. These fixed weights are also used to derive all of the industry and 

occupational series indexes. Beginning with March 2006 estimates, 2002 fixed employment weights from the 

Bureau’s Occupational Employment Statistics survey were introduced. From March 1995 to December 2005, 

1990 employment counts were used. For more information on these topics, see the article, “Introducing 2002 

weights in the Employment Cost Index” in the April 2006 issue of the Monthly Labor Review. 

For the series based on bargaining status, census region and division, metropolitan area status, and for 

series excluding incentive paid occupations, fixed employment data are not available. The employment 

weights are reallocated within these series each quarter based on the current ECI sample. The nursing care 

facilities indexes in private industry are estimated using fixed-employment weights derived from staffing 

patterns estimated from the four-digit industry NAICS group 6231, nursing care facilities, a sub-industry of the 

larger industry group, nursing and residential care facilities (NAICS 623). The indexes for these series, 

consequently, are not strictly comparable with those for the aggregate, occupational, and industry series. A 

fuller explanation of the calculation of index numbers appears in chapter 8 of the BLS Handbook of Methods, 

at the web site http://www.bls.gov/opub/hom/pdf/homch8.pdf. 

Beginning with the release of the March 2006 data, indexes were rebased to December 2005 = 100 from 

June 1989 = 100. The percentage changes shown in the current- and constant-dollar historical tables were 

calculated from the rebased indexes. Thus, changes may differ from those originally published because of 

rounding. More information on rebasing is included in the article, “Changes affecting the Employment Cost 

Index” in the April 2006 issue of the Monthly Labor Review. 

The ECI sample consists of 151 metropolitan areas and nonmetropolitan areas that represent the 

Nation’s 326 metropolitan statistical areas as defined by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget in 1994 

and the remaining portions of the 50 states. Metropolitan areas are defined as Metropolitan Statistical Areas 

(MSAs) or Consolidated Metropolitan Statistical Areas (CMSAs). Nonmetropolitan areas are counties and 

other geographic designations that do not fit the metropolitan area definition. 

Seasonally adjusted data are available for selected ECI series beginning with the December 1990 ECI 

release. Seasonal adjustment removes the effects of events that follow a more or less regular pattern each year. 

These adjustments make nonseasonal patterns easier to identify. An explanation of how the ECI applies the 

standard BLS practice in developing seasonally adjusted series, the changes made to accommodate the 

conversion to NAICS and SOC, and improvements in the seasonal adjustment methodology introduced in 

March 2006 is available in an article, “Seasonal adjustment in the Employment Cost Index” in the April 2006 

issue of the Monthly Labor Review. The seasonal adjustment factors are recalculated once per year. The 

March release contains data reflecting the newly updated seasonal adjustment factors. The historical data for 

the last five years are then revised based on the newly estimated factors. The seasonal factors for 2006 and 

revised seasonally adjusted indexes for the past 5 years are available on the BLS Web site at 

http://www.bls.gov/ncs/ect/home.htm or upon request. 

The ECI private industry sample is rotated over approximately 5 years, which makes the sample more 

representative of the economy and reduces respondent burden. The sample is replaced on a cross-area, crossindustry basis. 

Because the ECI is a sample survey, it is subject to sampling errors. Sampling errors are differences that 

occur between the results computed from a sample of observations and those computed from all observations 

in the population. The estimates derived from different samples selected using the same sample design may 

differ from one other. A measure of the variation among these differing estimates is the standard error. It can 

be used to measure the precision with which an estimate from a particular sample approximates the expected 

result of all possible samples. The chances are about 68 out of 100 that an estimate from the survey differs 

from a complete population figure by less than the standard error. The chances are about 90 out of 100 that 

this difference would be less than 1.6 times the standard error. The statements of comparisons appearing in 
 25

this publication are significant at a 1.6 standard error level or better, unless otherwise indicated. This means 

that for differences cited, the estimated difference is greater than 1.6 times the standard error of the difference. 

The ECI uses standard errors to evaluate published series. To assist users in ascertaining the reliability 

of series, the standard errors for all 3-month estimates (excluding seasonally adjusted series) are available on 

the BLS Web site at http://www.bls.gov/ncs/ect/home.htm shortly after the publication of the news release. 

Standard errors for 12-month estimates will become available in March 2007 after the transition to the new 

industry and occupational series is completed. 

When determining data to be used in contract negotiations, it is important to note that differences by 

bargaining status may be due to factors other than union status, such as occupational and industry mix. An 

important consideration when choosing a series for escalation is the sampling error. For more information, see 

the web site: http://www.bls.gov/ect/escalator.htm. 

More detailed information on the ECI is available from several sources. These include a chapter, 

“National Compensation Measures,” (http://www.bls.gov/opub/hom/pdf/homch8.pdf) from the BLS Handbook 

of Methods, and several articles published in the Monthly Labor Review and Compensation and Working 

Conditions. The articles and other descriptive pieces are available on the BLS Web site at 

http://www.bls.gov/ncs/ect/home.htm, by calling (202) 691-6199, or sending e-mail to NCSinfo@bls.gov. 

Historical ECI data, using industry categories based on the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) 

System and classifying jobs into occupational classifications according to the Census of Population, are 

available dating from the first publication of each series to December 2005. Data are also available for series 

based on the 2002 North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) and the 2000 Standard 

Occupational Classification (SOC) beginning in March 2001, using December 2005 = 100 as the base period. 

These historical data series from the ECI are available upon request or at the BLS Web sites: 

http://www.bls.gov/web/echistry.pdf, http://www.bls.gov/web/echistrynaics.pdf, 

ftp://ftp.bls.gov/pub/suppl/eci.echistry.txt, and ftp://ftp.bls.gov/pub/suppl/eci.echistrynaics.txt. 

In addition, constant-dollar ECI series derived from the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers 

(CPI-U) are available. The constant-dollar series are calculated by converting the CPI-U to the same base as 

the ECI. The ECI for each quarter is then divided by the converted CPI-U for the same reference period. The 

CPI-U U.S. City Average All Items is used to compute all series except for the regional estimates, which use 

corresponding CPI regional data. Historical data, using industry categories based on the SIC and classifying 

occupations according to the Census of Population, are available dating from the first publication of each 

series to December 2005. Data are also available for series based on the 2002 NAICS and the 2000 SOC 

beginning in March 2001, and using the December 2005 = 100 base period. These data are available at the 

BLS Web sites: http://www.bls.gov/web/ecconst.pdf, http://www.bls.gov/web/ecconstnaics.pdf,

ftp://ftp.bls.gov/pub/suppl/eci.ecconst.txt, and ftp://ftp.bls.gov/pub/suppl/eci.ecconstnaics.txt, or upon request. 

Supplemental data from the ECI, providing 12-month percent changes in employer costs for health 

insurance in private industry, are also available at http://www.bls.gov/ncs/ect/sp/echealth.pdf beginning with 

June 1982. 

The costs per hour worked of compensation components, based on data from the ECI, are published in a 

separate news release titled "Employer Costs for Employee Compensation." The release is available by e-mail 

request at NCSinfo@bls.gov, on the Internet site http://www.bls.gov/ect/home.htm, or by telephone at (202) 

691-6199. Also available are historical data in a summary document from March 1986 through March 2002 

on the BLS Web site at http://www.bls.gov/ncs/ect/home.htm or upon request. Data on a quarterly basis 

beginning with June 2002 also are available. The cost levels are calculated with current employment weights 

rather than the fixed weights used in computing the ECI. Therefore, year-to-year changes in the cost levels 

usually differ from those in the ECI.