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 NCSinfo@bls.gov 

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EMPLOYMENT COST INDEX—DECEMBER 2008 

Total compensation costs for civilian workers increased 0.5 percent from September to December 2008, 

seasonally adjusted, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. This 

follows three consecutive quarterly increases of 0.7 percent. In the December quarter, wages and salaries rose 

0.5 percent and benefits rose 0.4 percent. The Employment Cost Index (ECI), a product of the National 

Compensation Survey, measures quarterly changes in compensation costs for civilian workers (nonfarm private 

industry and state and local government workers). 

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

Compensation Mar. June Sep. Dec. Mar. June Sep. Dec.

component 2007 2007 2007 2007 2008 2008 2008 2008 

Civilian workers

 Compensation costs 0.8 0.9 0.8 0.8 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.5 

 Wages and salaries 1.0 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.7 0.7 0.5 

 Benefit costs 0.2 1.3 0.8 0.8 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.4 

 Private industry 

 Compensation costs 0.7 0.8 0.8 0.9 0.8 0.6 0.6 0.5 

 Wages and salaries 1.0 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.7 0.6 0.6 

 Benefit costs -0.3 1.1 0.8 0.8 0.6 0.5 0.6 0.4 

 State and local government 

 Compensation costs 1.2 1.0 0.9 0.9 0.6 0.9 0.9 0.5 

 Wages and salaries 0.9 0.9 0.9 0.8 0.7 0.9 1.0 0.4 

 Benefit costs 1.7 1.6 0.9 1.2 0.3 1.1 0.7 0.8 

Quarterly changes, seasonally adjusted

Compensation costs for private industry rose 0.5 percent from September to December 2008; the prior 

quarter increase was 0.6 percent. For the December quarter, state and local government compensation increased 

0.5 percent. The prior quarter’s increase was 0.9 percent. Wages and salaries for private industry workers 

increased 0.6 percent for the September to December 2008 period, the same as for the prior quarter. In state and 

local government, wages and salaries increase was 0.4 percent—smaller than the 1.0 percent increase in the 

Metropolitan and Nonmetropolitan Area Data Series 

Effective with this release, compensation and wage and salary data aggregated across all metropolitan and 

nonmetropolitan areas—which previously appeared in tables 6 and 10—have been discontinued as a result of 

classification changes to metropolitan statistical areas. 

 News

Bureau of Labor Statistics Washington, D.C. 20212 

United States 

Department 

of Labor
2

prior quarter. Benefit costs for private industry rose 0.4 percent, compared to 0.6 percent in the previous 

quarter. For state and local government, benefit costs increased 0.8 percent, compared to the 0.7 percent 

increase in the previous quarter. (See tables A, 1, 2, and 3.) 

Over-the-year changes, not seasonally adjusted

Compensation costs for civilian workers increased 2.6 percent for the year ended December 2008, less 

than the 3.3 percent increase for the year ended December 2007. In private industry, compensation costs rose 

2.4 percent in the year ended December 2008, less than the increase for the year ended December 2007, which 

was 3.0 percent. For state and local government, the increase for the 12-month period ended December 2008 

was 3.0 percent, less than the December 2007 increase of 4.1 percent. Wages and salaries for civilian workers 

increased 2.7 percent for the 12-month period; down from the December 2007 increase of 3.4 percent. Private 

industry wages and salaries increased 2.6 percent in December 2008. In December 2007 the increase was 3.3 

percent. State and local government wages and salaries increased 3.1 percent for the year ended December 

2008. The increase for the 12-month period ending December 2007 was 3.5 percent. Benefits increased 2.2 

percent for civilian workers. In private industry, benefit costs increased 2.0 percent, less than the increase for 

state and local government, which was 2.9 percent for the 12-month period ended December 2008. (See 

table B.) 

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

Compensation Dec. Dec. Dec. Dec. Dec. Dec.

component 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

Civilian workers

 Compensation costs 3.9 3.7 3.1 3.3 3.3 2.6 

 Wages and salaries 2.9 2.5 2.6 3.2 3.4 2.7 

 Benefit costs 6.4 6.7 4.5 3.6 3.1 2.2 

 Private industry 

 Compensation costs 4.0 3.8 2.9 3.2 3.0 2.4 

 Wages and salaries 3.1 2.6 2.5 3.2 3.3 2.6 

 Benefit costs 6.5 6.7 4.0 3.1 2.4 2.0 

 State and local government 

 Compensation costs 3.5 3.6 4.1 4.1 4.1 3.0 

 Wages and salaries 2.2 2.1 3.1 3.5 3.5 3.1 

 Benefit costs 6.3 6.7 6.3 5.2 5.5 2.9 

Nonfarm private industry

For the year ended December 2008, private industry compensation costs increased 2.4 percent for goodsproducing industries, the same as the increase in December 2007. Compensation costs for manufacturing 

increased 2.0 percent for the year ended December 2008, also the same as for the year ended December 2007. 

In the construction industry, compensation costs rose 3.1 percent compared to 3.9 percent for the 12-month 

period ending December 2007. (See table 5.) 

The over-the-year increase for December 2008 in compensation costs for service-providing industries 

slowed to 2.5 percent. The December 2007 increase was 3.2 percent. Among the major service-providing 

industries, changes in compensation costs ranged from 1.2 percent in information to 3.8 percent in professional 

and business services. (See table 5.) 

Among private industry occupational groups, over-the-year compensation gains ranged from 1.7 percent 

for sales and office occupations to 2.9 percent for management, professional, and related occupations. (See 

table 5.) 

Compensation costs for union workers advanced 2.8 percent in the year ended December 2008, while 

compensation costs for nonunion workers increased 2.4 percent. Wages and salaries for union workers 
3

increased 3.2 percent in the 12-month period ended December 2008. Nonunion workers saw a smaller increase 

of 2.5 percent. Benefit costs rose 1.9 percent in the 12-month period for both union and nonunion workers. 

(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 

Compensation Dec. Dec. Dec. Dec. Dec. Dec.

Component 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

Union workers

 Compensation costs 4.6 5.4 2.8 3.0 2.0 2.8 

 Wages and salaries 2.5 2.8 2.5 2.3 2.3 3.2 

 Benefit costs 8.5 9.9 3.3 4.2 1.5 1.9 

Nonunion workers 

 Compensation costs 4.0 3.5 2.9 3.2 3.2 2.4 

 Wages and salaries 3.1 2.6 2.5 3.3 3.5 2.5 

 Benefit costs 6.0 6.0 4.2 2.9 2.6 1.9 

State and local government

For the year ended December 2008, wages and salaries for state and local government workers rose 3.1 

percent. The increase for the 12-month period ended December 2007 was 3.5 percent. Benefit costs increased 

2.9 percent for the current 12-month period, less than the 5.5 percent increase for the previous year. Public 

administration wages and salaries increased 2.8 percent, also less than its December 2007 12-month percent 

increase of 3.8 percent. (See tables B, 11, and 12.) 

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

After adjusting for the changes in the prices of consumer goods and services, wages and salaries for 

civilian workers increased 2.6 percent for the 12-month period ended December 2008, compared to a 0.7 

percent decrease for the 12-month period ended December 2007. The increase for private industry was 2.5 

percent compared to a decrease of 0.7 percent for the year ended December 2007. State and local government 

registered a 3.0 percent increase, compared to a decrease of 0.6 percent for the previous year. (See table D.) 

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

dollars, not seasonally adjusted 

Ownership sector, Dec. Dec. Dec. Dec. Dec. Dec.

occupational group, and industry 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

Civilian workers 1.0 -0.7 -0.8 0.7 -0.7 2.6

Occupation 

 Management, professional, and related 1.4 -0.8 -0.9 1.0 -0.6 3.0 

 Sales and office 0.9 -0.3 -0.5 0.4 -0.9 1.7 

 Natural resources, construction, and maintenance 0.8 -0.9 -0.7 0.9 -0.6 3.2 

 Production, transportation, and material moving 0.4 -0.8 -1.1 -0.1 -1.4 2.6 

 Service 0.5 -1.2 -1.0 0.6 -0.1 2.8 

Industry 

 Goods producing 0.6 -0.8 -0.5 0.3 -1.0 2.7 

 Service providing 1.1 -0.7 -0.9 0.8 -0.7 2.6 

 Private industry 1.2 -0.7 -0.9 0.6 -0.7 2.5 

 State and local government 0.4 -1.2 -0.3 1.0 -0.6 3.0 
4

NOTE: 

This quarter’s ECI estimates for 14 individual localities (introduced in the June 2008 reference period) 

will be released Tuesday, February 24, 2009. For each locality, two private industry estimates are provided: 

12-month percent change for total compensation and 12-month percent change for wages and salaries. The data 

will be available at www.bls.gov/ect as well as in news releases for each area. The regional news releases 

providing ECI estimates for the four regions and nine census divisions have been discontinued. However, those 

estimates are still included in tables 6 and 10 of this news release. For additional information, see "BLS 

Introduces New Employment Cost Indexes for 14 Metropolitan Areas," at 

www.bls.gov/opub/cwc/cm20080922ar01p1.htm. 

The ECI for March 2009 is scheduled for release on Thursday, April 30, 2009, at 8:30 AM EDT. 

New seasonal factors for 2009, along with revised seasonally adjusted indexes for the past five years will 

be available Tuesday, April 28, 2009 at www.bls.gov/ect, by email to NCSinfo@bls.gov, or by calling 

(202) 691-6199. 

ECI data are available on the Compensation Cost Trends page at www.bls.gov/ect. For ECI data requests, 

send e-mail to NCSinfo@bls.gov or call (202) 691-6199. For technical assistance in using the BLS Internet site, 

send e-mail to webmaster@bls.gov. 

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

subscription link at www.bls.gov/ect or www.bls.gov/bls/list.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. 
5

0

1

2

3

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

-3

-2

-1

0

1

2

3

4

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

0

2

4

6

8

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

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, Not seasonally adjusted

12-month percent change, Wages and salaries

Civilian workers
6

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–

Sep.

2008

Dec.

2008

Mar.

2007

June

2007

Sep.

2007

Dec.

2007

Mar.

2008

June

2008

Sep.

2008

Dec.

2008

Civilian workers

All workers2 ................................................................ 109.1 109.6 0.8 0.9 0.8 0.8 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.5

Industry

Goods-producing industries3,4 ............................... 107.2 107.7 .3 .9 .5 .9 .9 .6 .5 .5

Manufacturing3 ................................................... 105.6 106.0 .0 .9 .3 .8 .8 .4 .5 .4

Service-providing industries3,5 ............................... 109.5 110.0 .8 .9 .9 .8 .7 .9 .6 .5

Education and health services3 .......................... 110.4 110.9 .9 .9 .9 .8 .8 .9 .6 .5

Education services3 ........................................ 110.5 110.9 .9 1.0 .9 .8 .8 1.0 .8 .4

Elementary and secondary schools3 .......... 110.4 111.0 1.0 1.0 .9 .7 .8 1.2 .6 .5

Junior colleges, colleges, 

universities, and professional schools3 .... 110.6 110.7 .8 1.1 1.1 1.0 .7 .9 .9 .1

Health care and social assistance3,6 .............. 110.3 110.9 .9 .9 .8 .8 .7 .8 .5 .5

Hospitals3 ................................................... 110.1 110.9 .9 .9 .7 .8 .7 .9 .7 .7

Nursing and residential care facilities3 ....... 109.0 109.7 .6 .7 .5 .8 .8 1.0 .6 .6

Public administration3 ......................................... 111.6 112.1 1.4 1.3 1.1 1.2 .2 .7 1.2 .4

Private industry workers

All workers .................................................................. 108.6 109.1 .7 .8 .8 .9 .8 .6 .6 .5

Occupational group

Management, professional, and related ................. 109.6 110.2 .7 .9 .9 .8 .8 .7 .7 .5

Management, business, and financial ................ 109.2 110.0 .6 .8 1.0 .8 1.0 .6 .6 .7

Professional and related ..................................... 109.8 110.5 .7 1.0 .8 .8 .7 .7 .7 .6

Sales and office ...................................................... 107.7 108.0 .7 .7 .7 1.0 .6 .5 .4 .3

Sales and related ................................................ 105.8 105.5 .5 .7 .4 1.3 .3 .5 -.2 -.3

Office and administrative support ....................... 109.1 109.8 .9 .7 .9 .8 .7 .6 .7 .6

Natural resources, construction, and maintenance 108.9 109.7 .4 .7 1.0 .9 .9 .4 .6 .7

Construction, extraction, farming, fishing, and

forestry .............................................................. 110.2 111.0 .8 .9 .9 1.0 1.2 .6 .6 .7

Installation, maintenance, and repair .................. 107.3 108.2 .0 .4 1.1 .8 .6 .0 .8 .8

Production, transportation, and material moving .... 106.6 106.9 .2 .8 .6 .6 1.0 .5 .6 .3

Production .......................................................... 105.9 106.1 .1 .7 .5 .6 .9 .4 .7 .2

Transportation and material moving ................... 107.5 108.0 .5 .9 .6 .7 1.1 .5 .4 .5

Service occupations ............................................... 109.5 109.8 1.3 .8 1.1 .7 .7 .8 .7 .3

Industry

Goods-producing industries4 .................................. 107.1 107.7 .3 .9 .5 .9 .9 .6 .4 .6

Construction ....................................................... 110.4 111.1 1.1 .8 .9 1.0 1.2 .7 .5 .6

Manufacturing ..................................................... 105.6 106.0 .0 .9 .3 .8 .8 .4 .5 .4

Aircraft manufacturing3 ................................... 91.3 90.7 -4.6 1.8 -3.1 -.8 2.7 1.8 .8 -.7

Service-providing industries7 .................................. 109.1 109.5 .8 .9 .9 .8 .7 .7 .6 .4

Trade, transportation, and utilities ...................... 107.5 107.6 .1 .9 .6 .8 .7 .9 .3 .1

Wholesale trade .............................................. 107.1 106.9 .7 .8 -.3 1.2 .3 1.3 .0 -.2

Retail trade ..................................................... 108.1 108.0 .4 .9 1.2 .9 .8 .7 .5 -.1

Transportation and warehousing3 .................. 106.6 107.0 .7 .9 .4 .2 1.2 .6 .2 .4

Utilities3 .......................................................... 108.0 109.5 -7.6 1.6 .6 1.2 .2 1.2 .3 1.4

Information .......................................................... 107.1 107.6 .9 .9 .4 .7 -.3 -.2 1.1 .5

Financial activities .............................................. 107.5 107.4 1.1 .4 1.1 .5 .6 .5 .4 -.1

Finance and insurance3 ................................. 107.7 107.6 1.1 .3 1.1 .7 .3 .6 .3 -.1

Credit intermediation and related

activities3 .................................................. 106.8 107.0 1.4 -1.1 1.1 1.2 .3 .8 .7 .2

Insurance carriers and related activities3 ... 108.3 108.3 .9 1.3 1.1 -.2 1.4 .5 .5 .0

See footnotes at end of table.
7

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

(Seasonally adjusted)

Occupational group and industry

Indexes (Dec.

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

Sep.

2008

Dec.

2008

Mar.

2007

June

2007

Sep.

2007

Dec.

2007

Mar.

2008

June

2008

Sep.

2008

Dec.

2008

Industry

Professional and business services ................... 110.8 111.8 1.0 1.1 1.0 0.8 1.0 0.6 1.1 0.9

Professional, scientific, and technical

services3 ....................................................... 112.9 114.2 1.1 1.3 1.1 .9 1.2 .7 1.2 1.2

Administrative and support and waste

management and remediation services3 ...... 109.0 109.5 1.0 .7 1.0 .9 .8 .5 1.1 .5

Education and health services ............................ 110.2 110.7 .8 .9 .8 .9 .7 .8 .6 .5

Education services ......................................... 110.9 111.2 .6 .8 .8 1.1 .7 1.4 1.1 .3

Junior colleges, colleges, 

universities, and professional schools3 .... 111.2 111.5 .4 1.0 .9 .9 .7 1.6 1.1 .3

Health care and social assistance6 ................ 110.0 110.6 .9 .8 .9 .8 .8 .7 .5 .5

Hospitals3 ................................................... 110.0 110.8 .8 .9 .8 .8 .7 .9 .8 .7

Nursing and residential care facilities3 ....... 108.7 109.4 .6 .6 .8 .7 .7 .8 .7 .6

Leisure and hospitality ........................................ 110.6 111.4 1.5 .8 1.3 .6 .7 .5 1.1 .7

Accommodation and food services3 ............... 111.3 112.2 1.6 .8 1.5 .4 .8 .6 1.1 .8

Other services, except public administration ...... 109.7 110.2 1.2 .3 .8 .9 .7 .6 .4 .5

State and local government workers

All workers .................................................................. 110.9 111.5 1.2 1.0 .9 .9 .6 .9 .9 .5

Industry

Education and health services3 .......................... 110.6 111.1 1.0 1.0 .8 .8 .8 1.0 .7 .5

Education services3 ........................................ 110.4 110.9 1.0 1.1 .9 .8 .8 1.0 .7 .5

Schools3 ..................................................... 110.4 110.9 1.0 1.1 .9 .7 .8 1.0 .7 .5

Elementary and secondary schools3 .......... 110.4 111.0 1.1 1.0 .8 .7 .8 1.1 .6 .5

Health care and social assistance3,6 .............. 112.3 113.4 1.0 .8 .3 1.1 .5 1.3 .8 1.0

Hospitals3 ................................................... 110.5 111.3 1.2 1.0 .5 .9 .9 .8 .4 .7

Public administration3 ......................................... 111.6 112.1 1.4 1.3 1.1 1.2 .2 .7 1.2 .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 Seasonally adjusted indexes and 3-month percent changes for these

series are being published for the first time with the 2008 seasonal adjustment

revisions. Historical data for these series are published beginning with March

2003.

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 and technical services;

management of companies and enterprises; administrative and waste

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

entertainment and recreation; accommodation and food services; other

services, except public administration; and public administration. 6 Includes ambulatory health care services and social assistance, not

shown separately. 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.
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–

Sep.

2008

Dec.

2008

Mar.

2007

June

2007

Sep.

2007

Dec.

2007

Mar.

2008

June

2008

Sep.

2008

Dec.

2008

Civilian workers

All workers1 ................................................................ 109.2 109.7 1.0 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.7 0.7 0.5

Industry

Goods-producing industries2,3 ............................... 108.5 109.1 .9 .7 .8 .7 1.0 .6 .6 .6

Manufacturing2 ................................................... 107.3 107.8 .7 .6 .6 .7 .8 .7 .7 .5

Service-providing industries2,4 ............................... 109.3 109.8 1.1 .7 .9 .8 .7 .8 .6 .5

Education and health services2 .......................... 109.9 110.4 .9 .8 .9 .8 .8 .9 .7 .5

Education services2 ........................................ 109.6 109.9 .7 .7 1.1 .9 .8 1.0 1.0 .3

Elementary and secondary schools2 .......... 109.3 109.7 .8 .7 .9 .8 .8 1.0 1.0 .4

Junior colleges, colleges, 

universities, and professional schools2 .... 110.0 110.1 .5 1.0 1.1 1.0 .7 .9 .9 .1

Health care and social assistance2,5 .............. 110.3 110.9 1.0 .9 .9 .8 .9 .7 .5 .5

Hospitals2 ................................................... 110.4 111.3 1.0 .9 .9 .8 1.0 .9 .8 .8

Nursing and residential care facilities2 ....... 109.1 109.7 .8 .6 1.1 .6 .8 .8 .8 .5

Public administration2 ......................................... 109.9 110.3 1.0 1.0 .9 .8 .7 .7 1.0 .4

Private industry workers

All workers .................................................................. 109.0 109.6 1.0 .8 .8 .8 .8 .7 .6 .6

Occupational group

Management, professional, and related ................. 110.0 110.7 1.1 .8 .9 .8 .9 .7 .7 .6

Management, business, and financial ................ 109.6 110.4 1.2 .7 .9 .7 1.1 .6 .8 .7

Professional and related ..................................... 110.3 111.0 1.0 .9 .8 .7 .9 .8 .7 .7

Sales and office ...................................................... 107.8 108.1 1.0 .7 .5 1.0 .7 .6 .3 .3

Sales and related ................................................ 106.0 105.6 .7 .6 .1 1.3 .4 .7 -.4 -.4

Office and administrative support ....................... 109.2 109.9 1.0 .7 .8 .8 .7 .6 .8 .6

Natural resources, construction, and maintenance 109.6 110.6 .9 .6 1.0 .9 1.1 .6 .6 .9

Construction, extraction, farming, fishing, and

forestry .............................................................. 110.7 111.6 1.0 .9 .9 1.2 1.3 .6 .7 .8

Installation, maintenance, and repair .................. 108.3 109.4 .8 .2 1.2 .8 .7 .5 .7 1.0

Production, transportation, and material moving .... 107.5 107.8 .8 .6 .7 .5 1.0 .8 .7 .3

Transportation and material moving ................... 107.8 108.3 .7 .8 .7 .6 1.2 .8 .4 .5

Industry

Goods-producing industries3 .................................. 108.5 109.1 .9 .7 .8 .7 1.0 .6 .6 .6

Construction ....................................................... 110.4 111.2 1.2 .9 .8 1.0 1.2 .7 .5 .7

Manufacturing ..................................................... 107.3 107.8 .7 .6 .6 .7 .8 .7 .7 .5

Aircraft manufacturing2 ................................... 107.8 108.8 .7 .4 .1 .7 1.1 .6 .6 1.0

Service-providing industries6 .................................. 109.2 109.7 1.0 .8 .9 .8 .7 .7 .6 .5

Trade, transportation, and utilities ...................... 107.4 107.4 .7 .9 .2 .9 .6 1.1 .2 .0

Retail trade ..................................................... 108.0 108.0 .5 1.0 .8 1.0 .5 1.0 .4 .0

Transportation and warehousing2 .................. 106.4 107.0 .8 .8 .2 .5 .9 .6 .5 .5

Utilities2 .......................................................... 109.2 109.8 .7 .9 .7 .9 1.1 .9 .1 .5

Information .......................................................... 107.2 107.7 1.2 .9 .4 .4 -.2 .8 1.0 .5

Financial activities .............................................. 107.7 107.6 1.3 .1 1.3 .3 .8 .3 .3 -.1

Finance and insurance2 ................................. 108.3 108.1 1.5 .0 1.2 .6 .6 .4 .2 -.2

Credit intermediation and related

activities2 .................................................. 106.1 106.5 2.2 -1.9 1.3 1.2 .2 .3 .6 .3

Professional and business services ................... 111.0 112.1 1.1 .9 .9 .9 1.3 .6 1.1 1.0

Professional, scientific, and technical

services2 ....................................................... 112.7 114.2 1.1 1.0 .9 1.0 1.6 .7 1.1 1.4

Administrative and support and waste

management and remediation services2 ...... 109.4 109.9 1.0 .6 1.1 .9 .8 .4 1.3 .4

See footnotes at end of table.
9

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

(Seasonally adjusted)

Occupational group and industry

Indexes (Dec.

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

Sep.

2008

Dec.

2008

Mar.

2007

June

2007

Sep.

2007

Dec.

2007

Mar.

2008

June

2008

Sep.

2008

Dec.

2008

Industry

Education and health services ............................ 110.1 110.6 0.9 0.9 0.9 0.9 0.8 0.7 0.6 0.5

Education services ......................................... 110.4 110.6 .3 .8 .8 1.2 .7 1.0 1.2 .2

Junior colleges, colleges, 

universities, and professional schools2 .... 110.3 110.5 .0 1.0 .8 1.1 .7 1.0 1.2 .2

Health care and social assistance5 ................ 110.0 110.6 1.0 .9 1.0 .7 1.0 .6 .5 .5

Hospitals2 ................................................... 110.2 111.1 .9 .9 .9 .8 .9 1.0 .8 .8

Leisure and hospitality ........................................ 111.4 112.3 1.8 .9 1.5 .6 .7 .4 1.3 .8

Accommodation and food services2 ............... 111.9 112.8 2.0 .7 1.7 .6 .8 .6 1.3 .8

Other services, except public administration2 .... 110.2 110.7 1.5 .3 1.0 1.0 .9 .6 .4 .5

State and local government workers

All workers .................................................................. 109.8 110.2 .9 .9 .9 .8 .7 .9 1.0 .4

Industry

Education and health services2 .......................... 109.8 110.1 .8 .8 1.0 .8 .8 1.0 1.0 .3

Education services2 ........................................ 109.4 109.7 .8 .8 1.0 .8 .8 1.0 .9 .3

Schools2 ..................................................... 109.4 109.7 .8 .8 1.0 .8 .8 1.0 .9 .3

Elementary and secondary schools2 .......... 109.3 109.7 .8 .7 1.0 .7 .8 1.1 1.0 .4

Health care and social assistance2,5 .............. 112.6 113.5 .9 .8 .7 1.0 .7 1.2 1.2 .8

Hospitals2 ................................................... 111.3 112.0 1.2 1.1 .7 .9 1.1 .8 .7 .6

Public administration2 ......................................... 109.9 110.3 1.0 1.0 .9 .8 .7 .7 1.0 .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 Seasonally adjusted indexes and 3-month percent changes for these

series are being published for the first time with the 2008 seasonal adjustment

revisions. Historical data for these series are published beginning with March

2003.

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 and technical services;

management of companies and enterprises; administrative and waste

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

entertainment and recreation; accommodation and food services; other

services, except public administration; and public administration. 5 Includes ambulatory health care services and social assistance, not

shown separately. 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.
10

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–

Sep.

2008

Dec.

2008

Mar.

2007

June

2007

Sep.

2007

Dec.

2007

Mar.

2008

June

2008

Sep.

2008

Dec.

2008

Civilian workers

All workers1 ................................................................ 108.8 109.2 0.2 1.3 0.8 0.8 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.4

Private industry workers

All workers .................................................................. 107.5 107.9 -.3 1.1 .8 .8 .6 .5 .6 .4

Occupational group

Management, professional, and related ................. 108.5 109.0 -.4 1.3 .8 .9 .4 .7 .7 .5

Sales and office ...................................................... 107.5 108.0 .2 .9 1.0 1.0 .3 .4 .6 .5

Natural resources, construction, and maintenance 107.4 107.8 -.6 .9 .7 .8 .8 -.1 .7 .4

Production, transportation, and material moving .... 104.8 105.1 -.9 1.1 .4 1.0 .8 .0 .3 .3

Service occupations ............................................... 108.7 109.0 .1 1.0 1.0 .8 .4 1.0 .3 .3

Industry

Goods-producing industries2 .................................. 104.5 104.8 -.8 1.2 .1 1.0 .8 .3 .1 .3

Manufacturing ..................................................... 102.3 102.5 -1.3 1.4 -.3 1.0 .6 -.1 .1 .2

Aircraft manufacturing3 ................................... 73.7 71.4 -11.9 4.2 -8.0 -3.2 5.5 3.4 1.0 -3.1

Service-providing industries4 .................................. 108.7 109.1 .0 1.0 1.0 .8 .6 .6 .6 .4

State and local government workers

All workers .................................................................. 113.3 114.2 1.7 1.6 .9 1.2 .3 1.1 .7 .8

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 mining, construction, and manufacturing. 3 Seasonally adjusted indexes and 3-month percent changes for these

series are being published for the first time with the 2008 seasonal adjustment

revisions. Historical data for these series are published beginning with March

2003.

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.
11

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–

Dec.

2007

Sep.

2008

Dec.

2008

3-months ended– 12-months ended–

Dec.

2007

Sep.

2008

Dec.

2008

Dec.

2007

Sep.

2008

Dec.

2008

Civilian workers

All workers2 ................................................................ 106.7 109.2 109.5 0.6 0.8 0.3 3.3 2.9 2.6

Excluding incentive paid occupations3 ............... 106.8 109.5 109.9 .6 .9 .4 3.3 3.1 2.9

Occupational group

Management, professional, and related ................. 107.2 110.1 110.4 .5 1.0 .3 3.4 3.2 3.0

Management, business, and financial ................ 106.6 109.7 109.8 .4 .7 .1 3.3 3.3 3.0

Professional and related ..................................... 107.6 110.4 110.7 .6 1.3 .3 3.5 3.2 2.9

Sales and office ...................................................... 106.4 108.2 108.3 .9 .5 .1 3.3 2.6 1.8

Sales and related ................................................ 105.2 106.0 105.5 1.1 -.1 -.5 2.8 1.8 .3

Office and administrative support ....................... 107.1 109.5 110.0 .7 .8 .5 3.5 2.9 2.7

Natural resources, construction, and maintenance 106.8 109.3 109.8 .7 .8 .5 3.1 3.0 2.8

Construction, extraction, farming, fishing, and

forestry .............................................................. 107.4 110.3 110.8 .8 .6 .5 3.6 3.6 3.2

Installation, maintenance, and repair .................. 106.2 108.0 108.6 .6 .9 .6 2.5 2.3 2.3

Production, transportation, and material moving .... 104.7 106.9 107.2 .5 .7 .3 2.2 2.6 2.4

Production .......................................................... 104.1 105.9 106.2 .8 .6 .3 2.1 2.5 2.0

Transportation and material moving ................... 105.6 108.1 108.4 .3 .7 .3 2.7 2.7 2.7

Service occupations ............................................... 107.7 110.2 110.6 .7 1.0 .4 4.1 3.1 2.7

Industry

Goods-producing industries4 .................................. 105.0 107.3 107.5 .6 .5 .2 2.4 2.8 2.4

Manufacturing ..................................................... 103.8 105.6 105.9 .6 .5 .3 2.0 2.3 2.0

Service-providing industries5 .................................. 107.0 109.5 109.8 .6 .9 .3 3.4 2.9 2.6

Education and health services ............................ 107.9 110.8 111.1 .7 1.5 .3 3.6 3.4 3.0

Education services ......................................... 107.9 111.1 111.3 .6 2.0 .2 3.7 3.5 3.2

Elementary and secondary schools ............ 107.9 111.1 111.4 .5 2.1 .3 3.6 3.4 3.2

Junior colleges, colleges, 

universities, and professional schools ...... 108.0 111.1 110.9 .8 1.9 -.2 4.0 3.7 2.7

Health care and social assistance6 ................ 107.9 110.4 110.8 .7 .7 .4 3.5 3.1 2.7

Hospitals ..................................................... 107.5 110.2 110.8 .7 .9 .5 3.4 3.3 3.1

Nursing and residential care facilities ......... 106.3 109.0 109.6 .7 .7 .6 2.5 3.2 3.1

Public administration .......................................... 109.1 111.6 112.0 1.0 1.4 .4 5.1 3.3 2.7

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 The index for this series is not strictly comparable with other series in

this table. See "Technical note" for further explanation. 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 and technical

services; management of companies and enterprises; administrative and

waste services; educational services; health care and social assistance;

arts, entertainment and recreation; accommodation and food services;

other services, except public administration; and public administration. 6 Includes ambulatory health care services and social assistance, not

shown separately.
12

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–

Dec.

2007

Sep.

2008

Dec.

2008

3-months ended– 12-months ended–

Dec.

2007

Sep.

2008

Dec.

2008

Dec.

2007

Sep.

2008

Dec.

2008

Private industry workers

All workers ...................................................................... 106.3 108.7 108.9 0.6 0.6 0.2 3.0 2.8 2.4

Excluding incentive paid occupations2 ................... 106.4 109.0 109.5 .6 .6 .5 3.1 3.0 2.9

Occupational group

Management, professional, and related ..................... 106.8 109.6 109.9 .4 .6 .3 3.2 3.0 2.9

Excluding incentive paid occupations2 ........... 106.8 109.7 110.1 .4 .7 .4 3.2 3.1 3.1

Management, business, and financial .................... 106.3 109.3 109.5 .3 .6 .2 3.1 3.1 3.0

Excluding incentive paid occupations2 ........... 106.5 109.6 110.0 .4 .6 .4 3.3 3.3 3.3

Professional and related ......................................... 107.3 109.9 110.3 .6 .8 .4 3.3 3.0 2.8

Sales and office .......................................................... 106.1 107.9 107.9 .8 .4 .0 3.1 2.5 1.7

Excluding incentive paid occupations2 ........... 106.7 109.2 109.7 .7 .6 .5 3.4 3.0 2.8

Sales and related .................................................... 105.2 106.0 105.5 1.0 -.2 -.5 2.8 1.7 .3

Excluding incentive paid occupations2 ........... 106.5 109.1 109.7 .9 .6 .5 3.5 3.3 3.0

Office and administrative support ........................... 106.7 109.2 109.6 .7 .6 .4 3.2 3.0 2.7

Natural resources, construction, and maintenance .... 106.7 109.0 109.6 .8 .6 .6 3.0 2.9 2.7

Construction, extraction, farming, fishing, and

forestry .................................................................. 107.4 110.3 110.8 .8 .5 .5 3.6 3.6 3.2

Installation, maintenance, and repair ...................... 105.8 107.4 108.1 .6 .8 .7 2.3 2.1 2.2

Production, transportation, and material moving ........ 104.5 106.6 106.9 .6 .6 .3 2.2 2.6 2.3

Excluding incentive paid occupations2 ........... 104.5 106.6 107.0 .6 .7 .4 2.3 2.6 2.4

Production .............................................................. 104.0 105.8 106.1 .8 .6 .3 2.0 2.5 2.0

Excluding incentive paid occupations2 ........... 103.9 105.8 106.3 .7 .6 .5 1.9 2.5 2.3

Transportation and material moving ....................... 105.3 107.7 107.9 .4 .5 .2 2.6 2.7 2.5

Service occupations ................................................... 107.0 109.4 109.8 .6 .6 .4 3.8 2.8 2.6

Industry and occupational group

Goods-producing industries3 ...................................... 105.0 107.2 107.5 .6 .4 .3 2.4 2.7 2.4

Excluding incentive paid occupations2 ........... 105.2 107.4 107.8 .7 .5 .4 2.6 2.8 2.5

Management, professional, and related ............. 104.4 106.7 106.6 .1 .1 -.1 2.4 2.3 2.1

Sales and office .................................................. 104.8 106.7 107.1 .7 .4 .4 1.9 2.5 2.2

Natural resources, construction, and

maintenance ..................................................... 107.0 109.8 110.4 .8 .7 .5 3.6 3.5 3.2

Production, transportation, and material moving 104.0 105.8 106.2 .7 .5 .4 2.0 2.4 2.1

Construction ........................................................... 107.6 110.6 110.9 .7 .5 .3 3.9 3.5 3.1

Manufacturing ......................................................... 103.8 105.6 105.9 .6 .5 .3 2.0 2.3 2.0

Management, professional, and related ......... 103.5 105.4 105.4 .2 .2 .0 2.1 2.0 1.8

Sales and office .............................................. 104.3 106.7 107.0 .8 .6 .3 2.2 3.1 2.6

Natural resources, construction, and

maintenance ................................................. 103.9 105.3 106.0 1.1 .8 .7 1.8 2.4 2.0

Production, transportation, and material

moving .......................................................... 103.8 105.5 105.8 .7 .5 .3 1.9 2.3 1.9

Aircraft manufacturing ........................................ 87.2 90.9 91.3 .1 1.1 .4 -6.4 4.4 4.7

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–

Dec.

2007

Sep.

2008

Dec.

2008

3-months ended– 12-months ended–

Dec.

2007

Sep.

2008

Dec.

2008

Dec.

2007

Sep.

2008

Dec.

2008

Service-providing industries4 ...................................... 106.7 109.1 109.4 0.6 0.6 0.3 3.2 2.8 2.5

Excluding incentive paid occupations2 ........... 106.9 109.5 110.1 .6 .7 .5 3.3 3.0 3.0

Management, professional, and related ............. 107.3 110.2 110.6 .5 .8 .4 3.4 3.2 3.1

Sales and office .................................................. 106.3 108.0 108.0 .9 .3 .0 3.3 2.5 1.6

Natural resources, construction, and

maintenance ..................................................... 106.2 107.8 108.4 .5 .5 .6 2.1 2.0 2.1

Production, transportation, and material moving 105.2 107.6 107.8 .5 .6 .2 2.5 2.8 2.5

Service occupations ........................................... 107.1 109.5 109.8 .7 .7 .3 3.9 2.9 2.5

Trade, transportation, and utilities .......................... 105.5 107.6 107.5 .8 .3 -.1 2.4 2.8 1.9

Excluding incentive paid occupations2 ....... 105.9 108.4 108.7 .7 .6 .3 2.7 3.0 2.6

Wholesale trade .................................................. 105.3 107.1 106.8 1.1 -.1 -.3 2.3 2.8 1.4

Excluding incentive paid occupations2 ....... 106.2 108.9 109.1 .7 .8 .2 2.9 3.2 2.7

Retail trade ......................................................... 106.1 108.2 108.1 1.0 .6 -.1 3.3 2.9 1.9

Excluding incentive paid occupations2 ....... 106.3 108.9 109.2 .8 .7 .3 3.6 3.2 2.7

Transportation and warehousing ........................ 104.5 106.8 106.9 .0 .4 .1 2.3 2.2 2.3

Utilities ................................................................ 105.6 108.1 108.9 .6 .0 .7 -4.3 3.0 3.1

Information .............................................................. 106.1 107.2 107.4 .3 .9 .2 2.8 1.3 1.2

Financial activities .................................................. 105.6 107.4 107.1 .2 .1 -.3 3.0 1.9 1.4

Excluding incentive paid occupations2 ....... 105.9 108.6 108.8 .3 .4 .2 3.0 2.8 2.7

Finance and insurance ....................................... 106.1 107.6 107.2 .4 -.1 -.4 3.1 1.8 1.0

Credit intermediation and related

activities ........................................................ 104.5 106.5 106.5 .9 .1 .0 2.5 2.8 1.9

Excluding incentive paid occupations2 ....... 106.3 109.7 110.1 .4 .5 .4 3.0 3.6 3.6

Insurance carriers and related activities ......... 105.7 108.3 108.2 -.3 .4 -.1 3.0 2.2 2.4

Excluding incentive paid occupations2 ....... 105.4 108.1 108.5 .5 .2 .4 2.9 3.1 2.9

Real estate and rental and leasing ..................... 103.7 106.4 106.6 -.4 .7 .2 2.9 2.2 2.8

Excluding incentive paid occupations2 ....... 105.9 109.3 109.6 .1 .7 .3 3.7 3.3 3.5

Professional and business services ....................... 107.5 110.8 111.6 .6 .8 .7 3.9 3.6 3.8

Professional, scientific, and technical services ... 109.1 112.8 113.9 .6 .8 1.0 4.5 4.1 4.4

Administrative and support and waste

management and remediation services ............ 106.4 109.0 109.4 .8 .9 .4 3.5 3.2 2.8

Education and health services ................................ 107.7 110.3 110.6 .7 .8 .3 3.5 3.2 2.7

Education services ............................................. 107.5 111.4 111.3 .7 2.1 -.1 3.2 4.4 3.5

Junior colleges, colleges, universities, and

professional schools ..................................... 107.7 111.6 111.6 .7 1.9 .0 3.2 4.4 3.6

Health care and social assistance5 .................... 107.8 110.1 110.5 .8 .6 .4 3.6 3.0 2.5

Hospitals ......................................................... 107.3 110.1 110.7 .8 .9 .5 3.3 3.4 3.2

Nursing and residential care facilities ............. 106.2 108.7 109.3 .7 .8 .6 2.6 3.0 2.9

Nursing care facilities2 ................................ 106.2 108.9 109.4 .6 .8 .5 3.0 3.1 3.0

Leisure and hospitality ............................................ 108.1 110.6 111.4 .6 1.2 .7 4.2 2.9 3.1

Accommodation and food services ..................... 108.6 111.4 112.1 .5 1.3 .6 4.4 3.1 3.2

Other services, except public administration .......... 107.6 109.9 109.9 .5 .5 .0 3.5 2.6 2.1

1 Includes wages, salaries, and employer costs for employee benefits. 2 The index for this series is not strictly comparable with other series in

this table. See "Technical note" for further explanation. 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 Includes ambulatory health care services and social assistance, not

shown separately.
14

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

and census region and division

(Not seasonally adjusted)

Bargaining status and census region and division

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

Dec.

2007

Sep.

2008

Dec.

2008

3-months ended– 12-months ended–

Dec.

2007

Sep.

2008

Dec.

2008

Dec.

2007

Sep.

2008

Dec.

2008

Bargaining status

Union ...................................................................... 105.1 107.4 108.0 0.7 0.7 0.6 2.0 2.9 2.8

Goods-producing industries2 .............................. 104.0 106.2 106.9 .9 .6 .7 1.8 3.0 2.8

Manufacturing ................................................. 101.0 102.1 102.8 1.0 .4 .7 .2 2.1 1.8

Service-providing industries3 .............................. 106.0 108.3 108.8 .6 .7 .5 2.3 2.8 2.6

Nonunion ................................................................ 106.5 108.9 109.1 .6 .6 .2 3.2 2.8 2.4

Goods-producing industries2 .............................. 105.4 107.6 107.7 .6 .5 .1 2.8 2.7 2.2

Manufacturing ................................................. 104.6 106.6 106.8 .5 .4 .2 2.4 2.4 2.1

Service-providing industries3 .............................. 106.8 109.2 109.4 .6 .6 .2 3.3 2.8 2.4

Census region and division4

Northeast ................................................................ 106.8 108.7 109.5 .6 .6 .7 3.4 2.4 2.5

New England ...................................................... 106.1 107.8 109.5 .7 .7 1.6 2.9 2.3 3.2

Middle Atlantic .................................................... 107.1 109.1 109.5 .6 .5 .4 3.7 2.4 2.2

South ...................................................................... 106.7 109.1 109.3 .6 .6 .2 3.1 2.8 2.4

South Atlantic ..................................................... 107.3 109.7 109.8 .5 .5 .1 3.4 2.7 2.3

East South Central ............................................. 105.4 108.0 108.0 .6 .7 .0 3.0 3.1 2.5

West South Central ............................................ 106.1 108.7 109.0 .5 .5 .3 2.6 2.9 2.7

Midwest .................................................................. 105.3 107.4 107.6 .7 .4 .2 2.4 2.7 2.2

East North Central .............................................. 105.0 106.9 107.0 .6 .4 .1 2.1 2.4 1.9

West North Central ............................................. 105.9 108.8 109.0 .6 .4 .2 3.1 3.3 2.9

West ....................................................................... 106.5 109.3 109.4 .8 .8 .1 3.4 3.4 2.7

Mountain ............................................................. 107.5 110.3 110.4 .8 .8 .1 4.3 3.5 2.7

Pacific ................................................................. 106.1 108.9 109.1 .7 .7 .2 3.0 3.3 2.8

1 Includes wages, salaries, and employer costs for employee benefits. 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.

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.)
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–

Dec.

2007

Sep.

2008

Dec.

2008

3-months ended– 12-months ended–

Dec.

2007

Sep.

2008

Dec.

2008

Dec.

2007

Sep.

2008

Dec.

2008

State and local government workers

All workers .................................................................. 108.4 111.3 111.6 0.7 1.7 0.3 4.1 3.4 3.0

Occupational group

Management, professional, and related ................. 108.3 111.3 111.6 .7 1.8 .3 4.1 3.5 3.0

Professional and related ..................................... 108.2 111.1 111.4 .7 1.8 .3 4.0 3.3 3.0

Sales and office ...................................................... 108.6 111.0 111.3 .6 1.6 .3 4.3 2.9 2.5

Office and administrative support ....................... 108.9 111.4 111.8 .6 1.5 .4 4.5 3.0 2.7

Service occupations ............................................... 109.1 111.9 112.4 1.0 1.7 .4 4.4 3.6 3.0

Industry

Education and health services ................................ 108.2 111.2 111.5 .7 1.9 .3 3.7 3.4 3.0

Education services ............................................. 108.0 111.0 111.2 .6 2.0 .2 3.7 3.4 3.0

Schools2 ......................................................... 108.0 111.0 111.2 .6 2.0 .2 3.7 3.4 3.0

Elementary and secondary schools ............ 108.0 111.1 111.4 .6 2.1 .3 3.6 3.4 3.1

Health care and social assistance3 .................... 109.3 112.7 113.2 .6 1.4 .4 3.4 3.8 3.6

Hospitals ......................................................... 108.2 110.8 111.3 .7 1.0 .5 3.7 3.1 2.9

Public administration .............................................. 109.1 111.6 112.0 1.0 1.4 .4 5.1 3.3 2.7

1 Includes wages, salaries, and employer costs for employee benefits. 2 Includes elementary and secondary schools; junior colleges;

colleges, universities, and professional schools.

3 Includes ambulatory health care services and social assistance, not

shown separately.
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–

Dec.

2007

Sep.

2008

Dec.

2008

3-months ended– 12-months ended–

Dec.

2007

Sep.

2008

Dec.

2008

Dec.

2007

Sep.

2008

Dec.

2008

Civilian workers

All workers1 ................................................................ 106.7 109.3 109.6 0.7 0.8 0.3 3.4 3.1 2.7

Excluding incentive paid occupations2 ............... 106.8 109.6 110.2 .6 .9 .5 3.5 3.2 3.2

Occupational group

Management, professional, and related ................. 107.1 110.1 110.5 .5 1.0 .4 3.4 3.3 3.2

Management, business, and financial ................ 106.7 109.8 110.1 .3 .7 .3 3.5 3.2 3.2

Professional and related ..................................... 107.4 110.3 110.7 .7 1.2 .4 3.5 3.4 3.1

Sales and office ...................................................... 106.2 108.1 108.1 .8 .4 .0 3.1 2.6 1.8

Sales and related ................................................ 105.5 106.3 105.6 1.2 -.3 -.7 2.9 1.9 .1

Office and administrative support ....................... 106.8 109.3 109.8 .7 .7 .5 3.4 3.0 2.8

Natural resources, construction, and maintenance 107.1 109.9 110.6 .8 .8 .6 3.6 3.4 3.3

Construction, extraction, farming, fishing, and

forestry .............................................................. 107.7 110.7 111.3 1.0 .7 .5 3.9 3.8 3.3

Installation, maintenance, and repair .................. 106.4 108.8 109.6 .6 .9 .7 3.2 2.8 3.0

Production, transportation, and material moving .... 105.1 107.7 108.0 .4 .7 .3 2.5 2.9 2.8

Production .......................................................... 104.7 107.2 107.5 .4 .7 .3 2.3 2.8 2.7

Transportation and material moving ................... 105.5 108.2 108.5 .4 .8 .3 2.7 2.9 2.8

Service occupations ............................................... 107.3 109.9 110.3 .8 1.1 .4 4.0 3.2 2.8

Industry

Goods-producing industries3 .................................. 106.0 108.6 109.0 .6 .6 .4 3.0 3.0 2.8

Manufacturing ..................................................... 104.9 107.4 107.7 .4 .7 .3 2.5 2.8 2.7

Service-providing industries4 .................................. 106.8 109.4 109.7 .6 .8 .3 3.4 3.0 2.7

Education and health services ............................ 107.4 110.2 110.5 .8 1.4 .3 3.5 3.4 2.9

Education services ......................................... 106.9 110.0 110.2 .7 1.9 .2 3.3 3.6 3.1

Elementary and secondary schools ............ 106.6 109.9 110.1 .6 2.2 .2 3.1 3.7 3.3

Junior colleges, colleges, 

universities, and professional schools ...... 107.5 110.4 110.3 .8 1.8 -.1 3.8 3.6 2.6

Health care and social assistance5 ................ 107.9 110.4 110.9 .7 .7 .5 3.7 3.1 2.8

Hospitals ..................................................... 107.4 110.5 111.3 .7 1.0 .7 3.5 3.6 3.6

Nursing and residential care facilities ......... 106.4 109.1 109.7 .6 .9 .5 3.0 3.1 3.1

Public administration .......................................... 107.4 109.9 110.4 .9 1.2 .5 3.8 3.3 2.8

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 The index for this series is not strictly comparable with other series in

this table. See "Technical note" for further explanation. 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 and technical

services; management of companies and enterprises; administrative and

waste services; educational services; health care and social assistance;

arts, entertainment and recreation; accommodation and food services;

other services, except public administration; and public administration. 5 Includes ambulatory health care services and social assistance, not

shown separately.
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–

Dec.

2007

Sep.

2008

Dec.

2008

3-months ended– 12-months ended–

Dec.

2007

Sep.

2008

Dec.

2008

Dec.

2007

Sep.

2008

Dec.

2008

Private industry workers

All workers ...................................................................... 106.6 109.1 109.4 0.6 0.6 0.3 3.3 2.9 2.6

Excluding incentive paid occupations1 ................... 106.7 109.5 110.1 .6 .7 .5 3.4 3.2 3.2

Occupational group

Management, professional, and related ..................... 107.2 110.1 110.5 .5 .7 .4 3.5 3.2 3.1

Excluding incentive paid occupations1 ........... 107.2 110.2 110.7 .5 .8 .5 3.5 3.3 3.3

Management, business, and financial .................... 106.6 109.7 110.0 .3 .6 .3 3.4 3.2 3.2

Excluding incentive paid occupations1 ........... 106.9 110.1 110.7 .3 .7 .5 3.6 3.3 3.6

Professional and related ......................................... 107.6 110.4 110.9 .6 .8 .5 3.5 3.2 3.1

Sales and office .......................................................... 106.2 108.0 108.0 .9 .3 .0 3.1 2.6 1.7

Excluding incentive paid occupations1 ........... 106.7 109.5 110.0 .7 .7 .5 3.5 3.3 3.1

Sales and related .................................................... 105.5 106.4 105.7 1.1 -.2 -.7 2.8 1.9 .2

Excluding incentive paid occupations1 ........... 106.6 109.7 110.4 .9 .5 .6 3.7 3.8 3.6

Office and administrative support ........................... 106.7 109.2 109.7 .7 .6 .5 3.3 3.0 2.8

Natural resources, construction, and maintenance .... 107.1 109.8 110.5 .8 .7 .6 3.6 3.4 3.2

Construction, extraction, farming, fishing, and

forestry .................................................................. 107.8 110.8 111.5 1.0 .6 .6 4.0 3.8 3.4

Installation, maintenance, and repair ...................... 106.1 108.5 109.3 .5 .8 .7 3.0 2.7 3.0

Production, transportation, and material moving ........ 105.0 107.5 107.8 .5 .7 .3 2.5 2.9 2.7

Excluding incentive paid occupations1 ........... 105.0 107.5 108.0 .4 .7 .5 2.7 2.8 2.9

Production .............................................................. 104.6 107.2 107.4 .4 .8 .2 2.3 2.9 2.7

Excluding incentive paid occupations1 ........... 104.6 107.2 107.6 .5 .8 .4 2.3 3.0 2.9

Transportation and material moving ....................... 105.4 108.0 108.3 .4 .6 .3 2.7 2.9 2.8

Service occupations ................................................... 107.1 109.7 110.1 .6 .8 .4 4.1 3.0 2.8

Industry and occupational group

Goods-producing industries2 ...................................... 106.0 108.6 109.0 .6 .6 .4 3.0 3.0 2.8

Excluding incentive paid occupations1 ........... 106.2 108.9 109.4 .6 .6 .5 3.2 3.1 3.0

Management, professional, and related ............. 106.0 108.7 108.8 .1 .3 .1 3.1 2.6 2.6

Sales and office .................................................. 105.5 107.6 107.9 .8 .4 .3 2.3 2.8 2.3

Natural resources, construction, and

maintenance ..................................................... 107.6 110.5 111.3 1.0 .8 .7 4.1 3.8 3.4

Production, transportation, and material moving 104.8 107.3 107.6 .4 .7 .3 2.3 2.8 2.7

Construction ........................................................... 107.8 110.6 111.1 .7 .5 .5 4.0 3.4 3.1

Manufacturing ......................................................... 104.9 107.4 107.7 .4 .7 .3 2.5 2.8 2.7

Management, professional, and related ......... 105.3 107.6 107.8 .3 .4 .2 2.9 2.5 2.4

Sales and office .............................................. 104.7 107.6 108.1 .8 .7 .5 2.6 3.6 3.2

Natural resources, construction, and

maintenance ................................................. 105.9 108.1 109.0 .9 .9 .8 2.8 3.0 2.9

Production, transportation, and material

moving .......................................................... 104.5 107.1 107.3 .3 .8 .2 2.2 2.8 2.7

Aircraft manufacturing ........................................ 104.6 107.6 108.1 .2 .2 .5 1.9 3.1 3.3

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–

Dec.

2007

Sep.

2008

Dec.

2008

3-months ended– 12-months ended–

Dec.

2007

Sep.

2008

Dec.

2008

Dec.

2007

Sep.

2008

Dec.

2008

Service-providing industries3 ...................................... 106.8 109.3 109.6 0.7 0.6 0.3 3.4 3.0 2.6

Excluding incentive paid occupations1 ........... 106.9 109.7 110.3 .6 .7 .5 3.5 3.2 3.2

Management, professional, and related ............. 107.4 110.3 110.8 .6 .8 .5 3.6 3.3 3.2

Sales and office .................................................. 106.3 108.0 108.0 .9 .3 .0 3.3 2.5 1.6

Natural resources, construction, and

maintenance ..................................................... 106.3 108.6 109.3 .6 .6 .6 2.8 2.7 2.8

Production, transportation, and material moving 105.2 107.8 108.1 .6 .7 .3 2.7 3.1 2.8

Service occupations ........................................... 107.2 109.7 110.1 .6 .8 .4 4.2 2.9 2.7

Trade, transportation, and utilities .......................... 105.5 107.5 107.4 .9 .3 -.1 2.7 2.8 1.8

Excluding incentive paid occupations1 ....... 106.0 108.5 108.9 .6 .6 .4 3.2 2.9 2.7

Wholesale trade .................................................. 105.2 106.8 106.4 1.2 -.4 -.4 2.1 2.7 1.1

Excluding incentive paid occupations1 ....... 106.5 109.1 109.3 .7 .7 .2 3.1 3.1 2.6

Retail trade ......................................................... 106.1 108.1 108.1 1.0 .5 .0 3.2 2.9 1.9

Excluding incentive paid occupations1 ....... 106.3 108.9 109.3 .8 .8 .4 3.6 3.2 2.8

Transportation and warehousing ........................ 104.2 106.7 106.9 .1 .7 .2 2.3 2.5 2.6

Utilities ................................................................ 106.8 109.3 109.6 .7 .0 .3 3.2 3.0 2.6

Information .............................................................. 105.3 107.3 107.5 .1 .9 .2 2.8 2.0 2.1

Financial activities .................................................. 105.9 107.7 107.2 -.1 .0 -.5 3.0 1.6 1.2

Excluding incentive paid occupations1 ....... 106.3 109.2 109.4 .2 .4 .2 3.1 2.9 2.9

Finance and insurance ....................................... 106.6 108.2 107.6 .1 -.2 -.6 3.3 1.6 .9

Credit intermediation and related

activities ........................................................ 104.2 105.9 105.8 .7 -.1 -.1 2.5 2.3 1.5

Excluding incentive paid occupations1 ....... 106.7 110.0 110.4 .4 .5 .4 3.4 3.5 3.5

Insurance carriers and related activities ......... 106.4 109.0 108.8 -.7 .5 -.2 3.3 1.7 2.3

Excluding incentive paid occupations1 ....... 105.9 108.6 108.9 .3 .3 .3 3.2 2.8 2.8

Real estate and rental and leasing ..................... 103.1 105.3 105.7 -.5 .6 .4 1.7 1.6 2.5

Excluding incentive paid occupations1 ....... 105.8 108.7 109.0 .0 .8 .3 2.7 2.7 3.0

Professional and business services ....................... 107.5 111.0 111.9 .7 .9 .8 3.9 4.0 4.1

Professional, scientific, and technical services ... 108.7 112.7 113.9 .7 .9 1.1 4.2 4.4 4.8

Administrative and support and waste

management and remediation services ............ 106.5 109.4 109.7 .8 1.0 .3 3.7 3.5 3.0

Education and health services ................................ 107.7 110.2 110.6 .7 .9 .4 3.6 3.1 2.7

Education services ............................................. 107.4 110.8 110.8 .9 2.0 .0 3.2 4.1 3.2

Junior colleges, colleges, universities, and

professional schools ..................................... 107.4 110.8 110.7 .8 2.2 -.1 2.9 4.0 3.1

Health care and social assistance4 .................... 107.8 110.1 110.6 .7 .6 .5 3.8 2.9 2.6

Hospitals ......................................................... 107.2 110.3 111.1 .7 1.0 .7 3.4 3.6 3.6

Nursing and residential care facilities ............. 106.5 109.0 109.7 .6 .8 .6 3.0 2.9 3.0

Nursing care facilities1 ................................ 106.4 109.0 109.5 .4 .8 .5 3.2 2.8 2.9

Leisure and hospitality ............................................ 108.8 111.4 112.3 .6 1.4 .8 4.9 3.1 3.2

Accommodation and food services ..................... 109.0 111.9 112.8 .6 1.4 .8 5.0 3.2 3.5

Other services, except public administration .......... 107.9 110.4 110.4 .6 .5 .0 3.9 2.9 2.3

1 The index for this series is not strictly comparable with other series in

this table. See "Technical note" for further explanation. 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 Includes ambulatory health care services and social assistance, not

shown separately.
19

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

census region and division

(Not seasonally adjusted)

Bargaining status and census region and division

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

Dec.

2007

Sep.

2008

Dec.

2008

3-months ended– 12-months ended–

Dec.

2007

Sep.

2008

Dec.

2008

Dec.

2007

Sep.

2008

Dec.

2008

Bargaining status

Union ...................................................................... 104.7 107.4 108.1 0.3 0.7 0.7 2.3 2.9 3.2

Goods-producing industries1 .............................. 104.3 107.1 107.7 .0 .7 .6 2.0 2.7 3.3

Manufacturing ................................................. 102.6 104.9 105.5 -.3 .5 .6 .9 1.9 2.8

Service-providing industries2 .............................. 104.9 107.7 108.3 .3 .7 .6 2.6 3.0 3.2

Nonunion ................................................................ 106.9 109.4 109.6 .7 .6 .2 3.5 3.0 2.5

Goods-producing industries1 .............................. 106.4 109.0 109.3 .6 .6 .3 3.3 3.0 2.7

Manufacturing ................................................. 105.5 108.0 108.2 .6 .7 .2 2.9 3.0 2.6

Service-providing industries2 .............................. 107.0 109.4 109.7 .7 .6 .3 3.5 2.9 2.5

Census region and division3

Northeast ................................................................ 106.6 108.7 109.6 .5 .5 .8 3.4 2.5 2.8

New England ...................................................... 106.3 108.3 110.3 .6 .7 1.8 3.1 2.5 3.8

Middle Atlantic .................................................... 106.7 109.0 109.4 .3 .6 .4 3.5 2.4 2.5

South ...................................................................... 107.0 109.8 110.0 .5 .6 .2 3.3 3.1 2.8

South Atlantic ..................................................... 107.5 110.2 110.3 .6 .6 .1 3.5 3.1 2.6

East South Central ............................................. 106.3 109.0 109.0 .7 1.0 .0 3.1 3.2 2.5

West South Central ............................................ 106.6 109.4 109.8 .5 .6 .4 3.1 3.1 3.0

Midwest .................................................................. 105.6 107.9 108.0 .6 .4 .1 2.9 2.8 2.3

East North Central .............................................. 105.3 107.3 107.4 .6 .3 .1 2.7 2.5 2.0

West North Central ............................................. 106.3 109.5 109.7 .7 .6 .2 3.5 3.7 3.2

West ....................................................................... 107.0 109.9 110.1 .8 .9 .2 3.7 3.5 2.9

Mountain ............................................................. 107.8 110.8 111.0 1.0 .8 .2 4.5 3.8 3.0

Pacific ................................................................. 106.8 109.6 109.8 .8 .9 .2 3.4 3.4 2.8

1 Includes mining, construction, and manufacturing. 2 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. 3 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.

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.)
20

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–

Dec.

2007

Sep.

2008

Dec.

2008

3-months ended– 12-months ended–

Dec.

2007

Sep.

2008

Dec.

2008

Dec.

2007

Sep.

2008

Dec.

2008

State and local government workers

All workers .................................................................. 107.1 110.1 110.4 0.7 1.8 0.3 3.5 3.5 3.1

Occupational group

Management, professional, and related ................. 107.0 110.1 110.4 .7 1.8 .3 3.4 3.6 3.2

Professional and related ..................................... 107.0 110.1 110.3 .7 1.9 .2 3.3 3.6 3.1

Sales and office ...................................................... 107.0 109.3 109.7 .7 1.3 .4 3.7 2.8 2.5

Office and administrative support ....................... 107.3 109.7 110.1 .8 1.3 .4 3.8 3.0 2.6

Service occupations ............................................... 107.7 110.4 110.9 1.1 1.7 .5 3.7 3.7 3.0

Industry

Education and health services ................................ 107.1 110.2 110.5 .8 1.9 .3 3.4 3.7 3.2

Education services ............................................. 106.8 109.9 110.1 .7 2.0 .2 3.3 3.6 3.1

Schools1 ......................................................... 106.8 109.9 110.1 .7 2.0 .2 3.3 3.6 3.1

Elementary and secondary schools ............ 106.6 109.8 110.1 .6 2.1 .3 3.1 3.6 3.3

Health care and social assistance2 .................... 109.2 112.8 113.4 .9 1.6 .5 3.5 4.3 3.8

Hospitals ......................................................... 108.6 111.4 112.1 .9 1.0 .6 4.0 3.5 3.2

Public administration .............................................. 107.4 109.9 110.4 .9 1.2 .5 3.8 3.3 2.8

1 Includes elementary and secondary schools; junior colleges;

colleges, universities, and professional schools.

2 Includes ambulatory health care services and social assistance, not

shown separately.
21

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–

Dec.

2007

Sep.

2008

Dec.

2008

3-months ended– 12-months ended–

Dec.

2007

Sep.

2008

Dec.

2008

Dec.

2007

Sep.

2008

Dec.

2008

Civilian workers

All workers1 ................................................................ 106.8 108.9 109.1 0.7 0.7 0.2 3.1 2.6 2.2

Private industry workers

All workers .................................................................. 105.6 107.5 107.7 .6 .5 .2 2.4 2.4 2.0

Occupational group

Management, professional, and related ................. 106.0 108.5 108.5 .4 .6 .0 2.5 2.7 2.4

Sales and office ...................................................... 106.0 107.6 107.8 .8 .6 .2 3.0 2.3 1.7

Natural resources, construction, and maintenance 105.9 107.5 107.7 .6 .5 .2 1.8 2.1 1.7

Production, transportation, and material moving .... 103.7 104.8 105.1 1.0 .3 .3 1.7 2.0 1.4

Service occupations ............................................... 106.7 108.7 108.8 .7 .2 .1 3.0 2.5 2.0

Industry

Goods-producing industries2 .................................. 103.2 104.6 104.7 .8 .2 .1 1.5 2.1 1.5

Manufacturing ..................................................... 101.7 102.3 102.5 1.0 .1 .2 .9 1.6 .8

Aircraft manufacturing .................................... 68.6 73.1 73.3 .1 2.5 .3 -17.5 6.7 6.9

Service-providing industries3 .................................. 106.6 108.7 108.9 .6 .6 .2 2.8 2.5 2.2

Bargaining status

Union ...................................................................... 105.8 107.2 107.8 1.4 .6 .6 1.5 2.8 1.9

Nonunion ................................................................ 105.6 107.6 107.6 .5 .5 .0 2.6 2.4 1.9

State and local government workers

All workers .................................................................. 111.0 113.9 114.2 .6 1.9 .3 5.5 3.3 2.9

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 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.
22

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. 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 personal 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 year-end, referral, 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, federal and state unemployment insurance, and workers’ compensation. 

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 2007 North American Industry 

Classification System (NAICS). All industries are classified into two sectors—goods-producing and serviceproviding. 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. Both the NAICS and the SOC classification systems are defined by the U.S. Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB). For more detailed information on NAICS and SOC, including background 

definitions, see the BLS Web sites: www.bls.gov/bls/naics.htm and 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 December 2008 quarter were collected from a probability sample of approximately 64,700 

occupational observations selected from a sample of about 13,600 establishments in private industry and 

approximately 11,800 occupations from a sample of about 1,900 establishments in state and local governments. 

The state and local government sample, which is replaced less frequently than the private industry sample, was 

replaced in its entirety in September 2007. The private industry sample is rotated over approximately 5 years, 

which makes the sample more representative of the economy and reduces respondent burden. Data are collected 

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

sample is replaced on a cross-area, cross-industry basis. 

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 
23

series indexes. Beginning with March 2006 estimates, 2002 fixed employment weights from the Bureau’s 

Occupational Employment Statistics survey were introduced. 

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

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. 

The ECI state and local government sample consists of 152 areas that represent the Nation's 361 

metropolitan statistical areas and 573 micropolitan statistical areas as defined by OMB in December 2003 and 

the remaining portions of the 50 states. The private industry estimates started the conversion to December 2003 

OMB areas definitions this quarter with replacement of one-fifth of the sample under the new area definitions. 

Seasonally adjusted data for selected ECI series began 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. 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 2008 and 

revised seasonally adjusted indexes for the past 5 years are available at www.bls.gov/ect/ectsfact.htm or upon 

request. 

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 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 estimates (excluding seasonally adjusted series) are available on the BLS Web 

site at www.bls.gov/ect/ectvar.htm shortly after the publication of the news release. 

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 

www.bls.gov/ect/escalator.htm. 
24

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

“National compensation measures,” (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 at www.bls.gov/ect/#publications, 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 at: www.bls.gov/web/echistry.pdf. Data are also 

available for series based on the 2002 and 2007 North American Industry Classification Systems (NAICS) and 

the 2000 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) beginning in March 2001, using December 2005=100 as 

the base period at: www.bls.gov/web/echistrynaics.pdf. 

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. 

Supplemental data from the ECI, providing 12-month percent changes in employer costs for health 

insurance in private industry, are also available at www.bls.gov/ect/sp/echealth.pdf. 

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" (ECEC). The next ECEC release is 

scheduled for 10:00 AM EDT, Thursday, March 12, 2009. Historical ECEC data are available in summary 

documents. Both the release and historical data are available at www.bls.gov/ect, by email to 

NCSinfo@bls.gov, or by calling (202) 691-6199. Since the ECEC is calculated with current employment 

weights rather than the fixed weights used in computing the ECI, year-to-year changes in the cost levels usually 

differ from those in the ECI.