Bureau of Labor Statistics Washington, D.C. 20212 

Technical Contact: USDL: 04-751 

(202) 691-6199 ocltinfo@bls.gov 

Media Contact: TRANSMISSION OF MATERIAL 

(202) 691-5902 hoyle_k@bls.gov IN THIS RELEASE IS EMBARGOED 

Internet address: UNTIL 8:30 A.M. (EDT), 

http://www.bls.gov/ncs/ect/home.htm THURSDAY, APRIL 29, 2004

EMPLOYMENT COST INDEX—MARCH 2004 

Total compensation costs for civilian workers increased 1.1 percent from December 2003 to March 

2004, seasonally adjusted, rising from the 0.8 percent gain from September to December 2003, the Bureau of 

Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Benefit costs jumped 2.4 percent, continuing 

to strongly outpace the gain for wages and salaries of 0.6 percent. 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 nonfarm private and State and local 

government workers. 

Although benefits contribute only 30 percent to total compensation costs, two-thirds of the increase in 

compensation costs was attributable to rises in benefit costs during the December 2003 to March 2004 period. 

Among private industry workers, benefit costs accounted for 67 percent of compensation gains during the 

quarter, with defined benefit retirement costs accounting for nearly half of the rise in benefit costs. Among 

State and local government workers, benefit costs contributed 63 percent of compensation gains during the 

December 2003 to March 2004 period, and health insurance contributions accounted for over one-half of the 

gain in benefit costs. 

Quarterly changes, seasonally adjusted

Compensation costs for the private sector rose 1.1 percent from December 2003 to March 2004, after 

advancing 0.8 percent in the prior quarter. March gains were led by sharp increases in manufacturing, 

particularly durable goods manufacturing, and smaller gains in retail trade. For State and local government 

workers, compensation costs increased 1.0 percent from December to March, compared with a gain of 0.8 

percent for the quarter ended in December. (See tables A and 1.) 

Benefit costs jumped 2.4 percent for civilian workers (nonfarm private industry and State and local 

government) in the March 2004 quarter, following a gain of 1.4 percent in the December 2003 quarter. Private 

sector benefit costs shot up 2.6 percent for the March quarter, sharply higher than the 1.4 percent gain in the 

previous quarter. Benefit costs for State and local governments increased 1.7 percent in the March quarter, 

following an increase of 1.3 percent in December 2003. 

United States 

Department News of Labor 

NOTE 

This release incorporates new seasonal adjustment factors. See page 4 for details. 
2 

Wages and salaries for civilian, private, and State and local government workers each advanced 0.6 

percent during the March quarter. During the prior quarter, civilian and private industry wages and salaries 

rose 0.5 percent, and State and local government wages and salaries rose 0.6 percent. 

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

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

Compensation Component 2002 2002 2002 2003 2003 2003 2003 2004

 Civilian workers

Compensation costs 1.0 0.8 0.9 1.2 0.9 1.0 0.8 1.1 

 Wages and salaries 0.9 0.6 0.5 1.0 0.6 0.7 0.5 0.6 

 Benefit costs 1.4 1.2 1.4 2.0 1.4 1.5 1.4 2.4 

 Private industry

Compensation costs 1.1 0.6 0.8 1.4 0.8 1.1 0.8 1.1 

 Wages and salaries 0.9 0.4 0.5 1.0 0.6 0.9 0.5 0.6 

 Benefit costs 1.4 1.1 1.4 2.1 1.4 1.5 1.4 2.6 

 State and local government 

Compensation costs 1.0 1.1 1.1 1.0 1.0 0.5 0.8 1.0 

 Wages and salaries 0.8 0.9 0.8 0.6 0.8 0.1 0.6 0.6 

 Benefit costs 1.3 1.9 1.8 1.6 1.5 1.6 1.3 1.7 

Over-the-year changes, not seasonally adjusted

Annual compensation costs for civilian workers increased 3.8 percent for the year ended March 2004, 

compared with a 3.9 percent over-the-year increase for March 2003. Compensation costs in private industry 

rose 3.9 percent in the year ended March 2004, compared with a 3.8 percent increase in March 2003. In 

contrast, compensation costs slowed to a 3.3 percent increase for State and local government for the year 

ended March 2004, compared with an over-the-year gain of 4.2 percent in March 2003. (See tables B, 2, and 

3.) 

The components of compensation continued to show significant differences. While increases in wages 

and salaries continued to slow, benefit costs continued to rise sharply during the year ended March 2004. For 

civilian workers, wages and salaries increased 2.5 percent in the year ended March 2004, compared with a gain 

of 2.9 percent in March 2003. Benefit costs jumped 6.9 percent for the period ended March 2004, higher than 

the increase of 6.1 percent for the year ended March 2003. (See tables B, 5, 6, and 8.) 

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

 Mar. Mar. Mar. Mar. Mar. Mar.

Compensation Component 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

 Civilian workers

Compensation costs 3.0 4.3 4.1 3.9 3.9 3.8 

 Wages and salaries 3.3 4.0 3.8 3.5 2.9 2.5 

 Benefit costs 2.3 5.0 4.7 4.9 6.1 6.9 

 Private industry

Compensation costs 3.0 4.6 4.2 3.9 3.8 3.9 

 Wages and salaries 3.3 4.2 3.8 3.5 3.0 2.6 

 Benefit costs 2.2 5.5 5.0 4.8 6.1 7.0 

 State and local government

Compensation costs 2.9 3.6 3.3 3.9 4.2 3.3 

 Wages and salaries 2.9 3.8 3.5 3.4 3.1 2.1 

 Benefit costs 2.8 3.2 2.8 5.0 6.6 6.2 
3 

Nonfarm private industry

For the year ended March 2004, compensation costs in private industry increased 4.5 percent for goodsproducing industries, compared with a 4.4 percent advance for the year ended March 2003. Compensation 

costs for manufacturing advanced 4.7 percent in March 2004, identical to the increase of a year earlier. 

Compensation costs for construction rose 3.5 percent in March 2004, compared with a 3.2 percent rise in 

March 2003. (See table 3.) 

The over-the-year increase in compensation for service-producing industries was 3.6 percent, identical to 

the gain for the year ended March 2003. Among service-producing industries, the 12-month increase for 

transportation and public utilities was 4.0 percent for the year ended in March 2004, led by an increase in 

public utilities, particularly the communications industry. Compensation costs rose modestly in wholesale 

trade, increasing 2.5 percent in the year ended March 2004. 

Over-the-year compensation cost increases were 4.5 percent for blue-collar occupations, 3.6 percent for 

white-collar occupations, and 3.2 percent for service occupations for the year ended March 2004. Among 

white-collar occupational groups, compensation cost changes ranged from 2.7 percent for executive, 

administrative, and managerial employees to 4.2 percent for administrative support, including clerical workers. 

Among blue-collar workers, compensation cost increases ranged from 3.5 percent for transportation and 

material moving workers to 5.5 percent for machine operators, assemblers, and inspectors. (See table 3.) 

Compensation costs for union workers advanced sharply, rising 5.7 percent over the year ended March 

2004, significantly higher than the 3.6 percent increase for nonunion workers. Compensation costs among 

blue-collar union workers advanced 6.2 percent, greater than the gain of 3.7 percent for blue-collar nonunion 

workers. In goods-producing industries, a 6.8 percent increase for union workers was greater than the 3.7 

percent advance for nonunion workers. (See tables C and 4.) 

Wages and salaries for union workers rose a modest 2.5 percent for the 12 months ended in March 2004, 

compared with an over-the-year increase of 2.6 percent for nonunion workers. In contrast, benefit costs for 

union workers jumped sharply, rising 11.2 percent, compared with an increase of 6.0 percent for nonunion 

workers in March 2004. Employer contributions for defined benefit plans accounted for over half the rise in 

benefit costs for union workers. (See tables C, 7, and 8.) 

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

 Mar. Mar. Mar. Mar. Mar. Mar.

Compensation Component 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

 Union workers

Compensation costs 3.0 3.6 3.4 4.7 4.7 5.7 

 Wages and salaries 3.1 2.7 3.6 4.4 3.3 2.5 

 Benefit costs 2.6 5.4 3.1 5.0 7.3 11.2 

 Nonunion workers

Compensation costs 3.0 4.7 4.3 3.8 3.6 3.6 

 Wages and salaries 3.3 4.4 3.9 3.4 2.9 2.6 

 Benefit costs 2.2 5.5 5.5 4.8 5.8 6.0 

Among the four geographic regions, increases in compensation costs ranged from 3.4 percent in the 

Midwest to 4.8 percent in the West. Compensation costs rose 3.9 percent in the Northeast and 3.6 percent in 

the South. (See table 4.) 

State and local government

Wages and salaries for State and local government workers rose 2.1 percent in the year ended March 

2004, moderating from a gain of 3.1 percent for March 2003. Benefit costs rose 6.2 percent for the year ended 

March 2004, compared with an increase of 6.6 percent for the year ended March 2003. (See tables B, 5, and 

8.) 
4 

Compensation gains moderated for educational services, rising 2.9 percent for the year ended March 

2004, down from a 4.1 percent increase for the year ended March 2003. For the year ended March 2004, 

compensation costs increased 3.5 percent for health services, compared with a 3.7 percent rise for the year 

ended March 2003. Among occupational groups, compensation costs of service workers rose 3.9 percent for 

the year ended March 2004, compared with gains of 3.3 percent for blue-collar workers and 3.2 percent for 

white-collar workers. (See table 2.) 

________________________________________________________________________________________ 

NOTE: 

This release incorporates annual revisions in seasonally adjusted Employment Cost Index (ECI) data for 

total compensation, wages and salaries, and benefit costs. Seasonally adjusted data for 1999-2003 were 

revised to reflect updated seasonal factors. The new seasonal factors and the historical listing containing 

revised seasonally adjusted indexes are available on the Internet site http://www.bls.gov/ect/home.htm, by email request at ocltinfo@bls.gov, or by telephone (202) 691-6199. 

The ECI for June 2004 is scheduled to be released Thursday, July 29, 2004, at 8:30 a.m. (EDT). 

The costs per hour worked of compensation components, based on data from the ECI, were published on 

February 26, 2004, in a news release titled “Employer Costs for Employee Compensation–December 2003.” 

The Employer Costs for Employee Compensation will reflect the 2002 North American Industry Classification 

and the 2000 Standard Occupational Classification systems with the release of the March 2004 estimates. 

Information on the transition to the new industry and occupational classification systems will be available 

prior to the June 2004 publication date on the Internet site http://www.bls.gov/ect/home.htm or upon request. 

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 ocltinfo@bls.gov.

The ECI news release is 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. 

News releases and other information are available from the BLS fax-on-demand service. To request a 

document fax, call (202) 691-6325. To request data found in this news release, enter the following codes: 

 Text 4110 

 Tables 1-4 4115 

 Tables 5-7 4120 

 Table 8 4125 

 Explanatory notes 4190 

To request a catalog of available documents, select option 2 at the initial voice prompt. 

________________________________________________________________________________________ 
5 

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04

Chart A. Changes in wages and salaries and in benefit costs, private industry, 1980-2004

12-month percent change

Wages and salaries

Benefits

Chart B. Changes in benefits, goods- and service-producing industries, private industry, 1980-2004

12-month percent change

Chart C. Changes in benefits, by bargaining status, private industry, 1980-2004

12-month percent change

Goodsproducing

Serviceproducing

Employment Cost Index

Nonunion

Union
6 

Table 1. Employment Cost Index for total compensation1, wages and salaries, and benefit costs by industry and

occupational group 

(Seasonally adjusted data)

Industry and occupational group

Indexes (June

1989=100) Percent changes for 3-months ended–

Dec.

2003

Mar.

2004

Jun.

2002

Sep.

2002

Dec.

2002

Mar.

2003

Jun.

2003

Sep.

2003

Dec.

2003

Mar.

2004

TOTAL COMPENSATION

Civilian workers .............................................. 168.9 170.8 1.0 0.8 0.9 1.2 0.9 1.0 0.8 1.1

State and local government .......................... 166.5 168.1 1.0 1.1 1.1 1.0 1.0 .5 .8 1.0

Private industry ............................................. 169.5 171.3 1.1 .6 .8 1.4 .8 1.1 .8 1.1

Industry

Goods producing2 .................................... 167.6 170.6 1.0 .8 1.1 1.6 1.0 1.0 .7 1.8

Construction ......................................... 163.4 164.8 .5 .8 1.2 .8 1.0 .8 .7 .9

Manufacturing ....................................... 167.6 171.4 .9 .9 1.2 1.6 .8 1.0 .7 2.3

Durables ........................................... 167.8 172.1 .8 .6 1.3 2.0 .5 1.0 .7 2.6

Nondurables ..................................... 167.4 170.0 1.0 1.3 1.1 1.1 1.1 .9 .8 1.6

Service producing3 ................................... 170.4 171.7 1.1 .6 .6 1.3 .8 1.1 .8 .8

Transportation and public utilities ......... 167.4 169.9 .8 1.1 .9 .8 1.2 .6 .7 1.5

Wholesale trade .................................... 172.8 173.9 2.2 .2 .9 1.3 .5 .9 .5 .6

Retail trade ........................................... 161.3 162.0 1.4 .2 .3 .2 .5 1.5 1.0 .4

Finance, insurance, and real estate4 .... 180.9 182.5 1.3 .4 .3 4.9 .9 1.1 .4 .9

Services ................................................ 171.7 173.5 .7 .5 .7 .8 .8 1.0 .9 1.0

Nonmanufacturing .................................... 169.4 170.8 1.1 .6 .6 1.2 .9 1.0 .8 .8

Occupational group

White collar ............................................... 172.5 174.1 1.1 .6 .7 1.4 .7 1.2 .8 .9

Blue collar ................................................. 164.1 166.8 .9 .8 1.0 1.2 1.0 .9 .9 1.6

Service ...................................................... 165.0 166.9 .7 1.0 .6 1.1 .7 .8 .7 1.2

WAGES AND SALARIES

Civilian workers .............................................. 162.3 163.3 .9 .6 .5 1.0 .6 .7 .5 .6

State and local government .......................... 161.6 162.6 .8 .9 .8 .6 .8 .1 .6 .6

Private industry ............................................. 162.5 163.5 .9 .4 .5 1.0 .6 .9 .5 .6

Industry

Goods producing2,4 .................................. 158.7 159.9 .9 .5 .7 .8 .7 .6 .3 .8

Construction ......................................... 154.0 155.5 .5 .6 .9 .5 .8 .8 .4 1.0

Manufacturing4 ..................................... 160.1 161.3 .9 .6 .7 1.0 .6 .4 .3 .7

Durables4 ......................................... 160.9 161.9 .9 .5 .8 1.0 .6 .6 .2 .6

Nondurables ..................................... 159.1 160.2 .8 1.0 .8 .5 .8 .4 .5 .7

Service producing3 ................................... 164.2 165.0 1.0 .4 .4 1.1 .6 1.1 .6 .5

Transportation and public utilities4 ....... 156.5 157.6 1.1 .9 .5 .5 .5 .3 .3 .7

Wholesale trade .................................... 166.1 166.5 1.8 .2 .6 1.3 -.1 .9 .7 .2

Retail trade ........................................... 156.8 157.2 1.1 .1 .3 .0 .4 1.6 .4 .3

Finance, insurance, and real estate4 .... 174.5 175.2 1.1 .2 .1 5.2 .8 1.0 .2 .4

Services ................................................ 166.9 168.1 .6 .5 .4 .6 .8 .9 .8 .7

Nonmanufacturing .................................... 162.9 163.7 .9 .4 .5 1.0 .6 1.0 .6 .5

See footnotes at end of table.
7 

Table 1. Employment Cost Index for total compensation1, wages and salaries, and benefit costs by industry and

occupational group — Continued

(Seasonally adjusted data)

Industry and occupational group

Indexes (June

1989=100) Percent changes for 3-months ended–

Dec.

2003

Mar.

2004

Jun.

2002

Sep.

2002

Dec.

2002

Mar.

2003

Jun.

2003

Sep.

2003

Dec.

2003

Mar.

2004

WAGES AND SALARIES–Continued

Occupational group

White collar ............................................... 166.3 167.1 1.0 0.4 0.6 1.1 0.6 0.9 0.7 0.5

Blue collar4 ............................................... 156.1 157.2 .9 .5 .5 .8 .7 .6 .3 .7

Service4 .................................................... 157.8 158.4 .5 .7 .4 .6 .4 .6 .4 .4

BENEFIT COSTS

Civilian workers .............................................. 184.8 189.2 1.4 1.2 1.4 2.0 1.4 1.5 1.4 2.4

State and local government .......................... 178.1 181.1 1.3 1.9 1.8 1.6 1.5 1.6 1.3 1.7

Private industry ............................................. 186.3 191.2 1.4 1.1 1.4 2.1 1.4 1.5 1.4 2.6

Industry

Goods producing2 .................................... 185.1 192.8 1.1 1.3 1.8 3.0 1.4 1.7 1.4 4.2

Manufacturing ....................................... 183.9 193.3 1.2 1.3 1.9 3.3 1.3 1.8 1.4 5.1

Service producing3 ................................... 187.0 190.2 1.6 .9 1.1 1.6 1.4 1.3 1.4 1.7

Nonmanufacturing .................................... 187.6 190.5 1.4 1.1 1.1 1.6 1.4 1.4 1.4 1.5

Occupational group

White collar ............................................... 190.2 193.8 1.6 .9 1.2 2.0 1.1 1.5 1.3 1.9

Blue collar ................................................. 181.0 187.8 1.1 1.5 1.6 2.1 2.0 1.5 1.5 3.8

Service ...................................................... 186.9 192.7 1.2 1.9 1.0 2.4 1.4 1.2 1.4 3.1

1 Includes wages, salaries, and employer costs for employee benefits. 2 Includes mining, construction, and manufacturing. 3 Includes transportation, communication, and public utilities; wholesale and

retail trade; finance, insurance, and real estate; and service industries. 4 No identifiable seasonality was found for this series.
8 

Table 2. Employment Cost Index for total compensation1 for civilian and State and local government workers by

industry and occupational group 

(Not seasonally adjusted data)

Industry and occupational group

Indexes (June 1989=100) Percent changes for–

Mar.

2003

Dec.

2003

Mar.

2004

3 months ended– 12 months ended–

Mar.

2003

Dec.

2003

Mar.

2004

Mar.

2003

Dec.

2003

Mar.

2004

Civilian workers ............................................ 164.5 168.4 170.7 1.4 0.5 1.4 3.9 3.8 3.8

Excluding sales occupations .................. 164.6 168.6 170.8 1.5 .5 1.3 3.9 3.9 3.8

Industry

Goods producing2 ...................................... 163.1 166.6 170.4 1.8 .5 2.3 4.4 4.0 4.5

Manufacturing ......................................... 164.0 167.1 171.7 2.2 .4 2.8 4.7 4.1 4.7

Service producing3 ..................................... 165.0 169.1 170.8 1.4 .5 1.0 3.7 3.9 3.5

Services .................................................. 165.3 169.5 171.2 .9 .6 1.0 3.2 3.4 3.6

Health services ................................... 166.4 170.7 173.0 1.2 .8 1.3 3.7 3.8 4.0

Hospitals ......................................... 169.9 174.8 176.8 1.4 1.0 1.1 4.7 4.3 4.1

Educational services ........................... 163.6 167.6 168.5 .5 .4 .5 4.1 2.9 3.0

Public administration4 ............................. 163.4 168.1 170.1 1.1 .5 1.2 4.4 4.0 4.1

Nonmanufacturing ...................................... 164.5 168.6 170.4 1.3 .5 1.1 3.7 3.8 3.6

Occupational group

White collar ................................................. 166.7 170.7 172.7 1.5 .5 1.2 3.9 3.9 3.6

Excluding sales ................................... 167.2 171.1 173.1 1.6 .5 1.2 3.9 3.9 3.5

Professional specialty and technical ....... 164.1 168.0 170.2 1.0 .6 1.3 3.5 3.4 3.7

Executive, administrative, and

managerial ............................................ 171.1 174.9 175.8 2.6 .5 .5 4.5 4.9 2.7

Administrative support, including

clerical .................................................. 168.3 172.5 175.3 1.3 .5 1.6 3.9 3.9 4.2

Blue collar ................................................... 159.8 163.7 166.9 1.5 .5 2.0 4.0 3.9 4.4

Service ........................................................ 164.1 167.9 169.7 1.2 .7 1.1 3.6 3.5 3.4

State and local government ......................... 162.6 166.8 168.0 .7 .5 .7 4.2 3.3 3.3

Industry

Services .................................................. 161.8 165.7 166.5 .6 .5 .5 4.1 3.0 2.9

Excluding schools ........................... 164.0 168.2 169.4 .7 .8 .7 3.9 3.3 3.3

Health services ................................... 166.4 171.0 172.2 .5 .9 .7 3.7 3.3 3.5

Hospitals ......................................... 167.0 171.4 172.4 .5 .6 .6 3.9 3.1 3.2

Educational services ........................... 161.1 165.0 165.7 .5 .4 .4 4.1 2.9 2.9

Schools ........................................... 161.4 165.3 166.0 .4 .4 .4 4.1 2.9 2.9

Elementary and secondary ......... 159.4 163.7 164.4 .4 .4 .4 3.9 3.1 3.1

Colleges and universities ............ 167.0 170.0 170.7 .7 .5 .4 4.4 2.5 2.2

Public administration4 ............................. 163.4 168.1 170.1 1.1 .5 1.2 4.4 4.0 4.1

Occupational group

White collar ................................................. 161.7 165.7 166.8 .6 .5 .7 4.2 3.1 3.2

Professional specialty and technical ....... 160.2 164.1 165.1 .5 .4 .6 4.3 2.9 3.1

Executive, administrative, and

managerial ............................................ 165.3 169.1 170.1 .9 .7 .6 3.6 3.2 2.9

Administrative support, including

clerical .................................................. 163.8 168.5 170.4 .9 .4 1.1 4.4 3.8 4.0

Blue collar ................................................... 161.3 165.2 166.7 .9 1.0 .9 4.7 3.4 3.3

Service ........................................................ 168.0 173.0 174.5 1.0 .6 .9 4.0 4.0 3.9

1 Includes wages, salaries, and employer costs for employee benefits. 2 Includes mining, construction, and manufacturing. 3 Includes transportation, communication, and public utilities;

wholesale and retail trade; finance, insurance, and real estate; service

industries; and public administration. 4 Includes executive, legislative, judicial, administrative, and regulatory

activities of State and local governments, SICs 91 through 96.
9 

Table 3. Employment Cost Index for total compensation1 for private industry workers, by industry and

occupational group 

(Not seasonally adjusted data)

Industry and occupational group

Indexes (June 1989=100) Percent changes for–

Mar.

2003

Dec.

2003

Mar.

2004

3 months ended– 12 months ended–

Mar.

2003

Dec.

2003

Mar.

2004

Mar.

2003

Dec.

2003

Mar.

2004

Private industry workers .............................. 165.0 168.8 171.4 1.7 0.4 1.5 3.8 4.0 3.9

Excluding sales occupations .................. 165.1 169.0 171.6 1.7 .5 1.5 3.8 4.1 3.9

Industry

Goods producing2 .................................... 163.0 166.5 170.3 1.8 .5 2.3 4.4 4.0 4.5

Excluding sales ................................... 162.4 165.9 169.8 2.0 .5 2.4 4.4 4.2 4.6

White collar ............................................. 167.8 170.5 173.5 2.1 .2 1.8 4.8 3.8 3.4

Excluding sales ................................... 166.3 169.2 172.2 2.5 .4 1.8 5.0 4.3 3.5

Blue collar ............................................... 159.9 163.9 168.1 1.7 .6 2.6 4.1 4.2 5.1

Construction ........................................... 159.1 163.3 164.6 .8 .6 .8 3.2 3.4 3.5

Manufacturing ......................................... 164.0 167.1 171.7 2.2 .4 2.8 4.7 4.1 4.7

White collar ......................................... 167.1 169.6 173.2 2.3 .1 2.1 5.0 3.9 3.7

Excluding sales ............................... 165.1 167.8 171.3 2.7 .2 2.1 5.4 4.4 3.8

Blue collar ........................................... 161.6 165.1 170.4 2.1 .6 3.2 4.5 4.3 5.4

Durables ............................................. 164.4 167.3 172.4 2.4 .4 3.0 4.8 4.2 4.9

Aircraft manufacturing (SIC 3721) .. 183.2 182.1 198.9 6.3 -1.2 9.2 9.4 5.7 8.6

White collar ................................. 177.9 177.0 193.9 7.6 -.3 9.5 8.9 7.1 9.0

Blue collar ................................... 189.8 188.4 204.5 4.1 -2.8 8.5 10.0 3.3 7.7

Nondurables ....................................... 163.1 166.6 170.4 1.7 .4 2.3 4.6 3.9 4.5

Service producing3 .................................. 165.6 169.7 171.6 1.5 .5 1.1 3.6 4.0 3.6

Excluding sales ................................... 166.6 170.6 172.5 1.6 .5 1.1 3.5 4.0 3.5

White collar ............................................. 167.9 172.0 174.1 1.7 .5 1.2 3.6 4.2 3.7

Excluding sales ................................... 169.9 174.2 176.2 1.7 .6 1.1 3.5 4.3 3.7

Blue collar ............................................... 158.7 162.6 164.1 1.1 .2 .9 3.6 3.6 3.4

Service .................................................... 161.1 164.3 166.1 1.1 .7 1.1 3.3 3.1 3.1

Transportation and public utilities ........... 163.2 167.0 169.8 .9 .3 1.7 3.8 3.3 4.0

Transportation .................................... 157.8 159.6 162.0 1.1 .1 1.5 3.5 2.2 2.7

Public utilities ...................................... 170.5 177.0 180.4 .8 .3 1.9 4.0 4.6 5.8

Communications ............................. 171.3 179.0 182.2 .7 .3 1.8 3.2 5.2 6.4

Electric, gas, and sanitary

services ........................................ 169.5 174.6 178.2 .8 .5 2.1 5.1 3.9 5.1

Wholesale and retail trade ...................... 161.3 165.0 166.3 1.0 .4 .8 3.1 3.3 3.1

Excluding sales ............................... 161.8 165.9 167.4 .9 .5 .9 2.7 3.4 3.5

Wholesale trade .................................. 169.5 172.0 173.8 1.7 .0 1.0 4.7 3.2 2.5

Excluding sales ............................... 168.4 171.3 173.7 .7 .1 1.4 3.8 2.5 3.1

Retail trade ......................................... 156.6 161.0 162.1 .5 .7 .7 2.0 3.3 3.5

General merchandise stores .......... 156.4 165.6 165.8 .8 2.7 .1 2.6 6.8 6.0

Food stores ..................................... 157.5 160.3 162.1 .8 .6 1.1 3.0 2.6 2.9

Finance, insurance, and real estate ....... 176.7 180.9 182.5 4.9 .4 .9 7.0 7.4 3.3

Excluding sales ............................... 182.0 186.1 186.6 5.1 .4 .3 7.2 7.5 2.5

Banking, savings and loan, and other

credit agencies ................................. 204.3 209.0 207.2 10.3 .7 -.9 12.2 12.8 1.4

Insurance ............................................ 172.1 176.2 177.8 2.5 .6 .9 4.9 4.9 3.3

Excluding sales ............................... 169.6 173.7 175.4 2.4 .5 1.0 4.0 4.8 3.4

Services .................................................. 167.1 171.4 173.5 1.0 .6 1.2 2.8 3.6 3.8

Business services ............................... 168.5 172.6 174.8 .6 .4 1.3 1.3 3.0 3.7

Health services ................................... 166.5 170.8 173.3 1.3 .8 1.5 3.7 3.9 4.1

Hospitals ......................................... 170.8 175.9 178.1 1.6 1.2 1.3 4.9 4.6 4.3

Nursing homes ............................... – – – 1.2 .6 1.2 3.9 3.4 3.4

Educational services ........................... 176.3 181.3 183.1 .6 .6 1.0 4.6 3.5 3.9

Colleges and universities ................ 174.5 179.4 181.2 .5 .6 1.0 3.8 3.3 3.8

See footnotes at end of table.
10 

Table 3. Employment Cost Index for total compensation1 for private industry workers, by industry and

occupational group — Continued

(Not seasonally adjusted data)

Industry and occupational group

Indexes (June 1989=100) Percent changes for–

Mar.

2003

Dec.

2003

Mar.

2004

3 months ended– 12 months ended–

Mar.

2003

Dec.

2003

Mar.

2004

Mar.

2003

Dec.

2003

Mar.

2004

Industry–Continued

Nonmanufacturing industries ................. 164.9 169.0 170.9 1.5 0.5 1.1 3.5 4.0 3.6

White collar ............................................. 168.0 172.1 174.1 1.6 .5 1.2 3.6 4.1 3.6

Excluding sales ................................... 170.0 174.2 176.2 1.7 .6 1.1 3.5 4.2 3.6

Blue collar ............................................... 157.5 161.7 163.4 1.0 .4 1.1 3.5 3.7 3.7

Service .................................................... 161.1 164.2 166.0 1.2 .6 1.1 3.3 3.1 3.0

Occupational group

White collar ............................................... 168.1 172.0 174.2 1.8 .5 1.3 3.8 4.1 3.6

Excluding sales ................................... 169.1 173.0 175.3 1.9 .5 1.3 3.9 4.3 3.7

Professional specialty and technical ....... 166.5 170.5 173.4 1.3 .6 1.7 3.1 3.7 4.1

Executive, administrative, and

managerial ............................................ 172.1 175.9 176.8 2.9 .5 .5 4.7 5.2 2.7

Sales ....................................................... 163.5 167.1 169.2 1.0 -.1 1.3 3.7 3.2 3.5

Administrative support, including

clerical .................................................. 169.0 173.1 176.1 1.4 .5 1.7 3.8 3.8 4.2

Blue collar ................................................. 159.7 163.6 166.9 1.5 .5 2.0 4.0 4.0 4.5

Precision production, craft, and repair .... 160.0 164.2 167.1 1.4 .7 1.8 4.1 4.1 4.4

Machine operators, assemblers, and

inspectors ............................................. 159.9 163.2 168.7 2.0 .4 3.4 4.1 4.1 5.5

Transportation and material moving ....... 153.2 156.9 158.5 .9 .1 1.0 3.0 3.4 3.5

Handlers, equipment cleaners, helpers,

and laborers .......................................... 164.9 169.5 171.7 1.2 .5 1.3 3.9 4.1 4.1

Service ....................................................... 161.7 164.9 166.9 1.2 .7 1.2 3.4 3.2 3.2

Production and nonsupervisory

occupations4 ........................................... 162.6 166.6 169.3 1.3 .5 1.6 3.5 3.8 4.1

1 Includes wages, salaries, and employer costs for employee benefits. 2 Includes mining, construction, and manufacturing. 3 Includes transportation, communication, and public utilities;

wholesale and retail trade; finance, insurance, and real estate; and service

industries.

4 This series has the same industry and occupational coverage as the

Hourly Earnings Index, which was discontinued in January 1989.

NOTE: Dashes indicate data not available.
11 

Table 4. Employment Cost Index for total compensation1 for private industry workers, by bargaining status,

region, and area 

(Not seasonally adjusted data)

Bargaining status, region, and area

Indexes (June 1989=100) Percent changes for–

Mar.

2003

Dec.

2003

Mar.

2004

3 months ended– 12 months ended–

Mar.

2003

Dec.

2003

Mar.

2004

Mar.

2003

Dec.

2003

Mar.

2004

Bargaining status

Union ........................................................... 162.1 166.8 171.4 1.6 0.7 2.8 4.7 4.6 5.7

Blue-collar occupations ........................ 159.2 164.2 169.0 1.7 .7 2.9 4.9 4.9 6.2

Goods-producing industries2 .................... 161.4 165.9 172.3 2.3 .7 3.9 5.2 5.1 6.8

Service-producing industries3 .................. 162.6 167.5 170.2 .9 .6 1.6 4.2 4.0 4.7

Manufacturing ........................................... 162.3 166.3 175.0 2.8 .8 5.2 5.8 5.3 7.8

Blue-collar occupations ........................ 161.1 165.1 173.8 2.6 .9 5.3 5.6 5.2 7.9

Nonmanufacturing .................................... 161.4 166.5 168.8 .9 .6 1.4 4.1 4.1 4.6

Nonunion ..................................................... 165.4 169.1 171.3 1.6 .4 1.3 3.6 3.9 3.6

Blue-collar occupations ........................ 159.8 163.2 165.7 1.3 .4 1.5 3.3 3.5 3.7

Goods-producing industries2 .................... 163.6 166.7 169.7 1.7 .4 1.8 4.1 3.7 3.7

Service-producing industries3 .................. 165.9 169.8 171.6 1.6 .5 1.1 3.5 4.0 3.4

Manufacturing ........................................... 164.5 167.3 170.6 2.0 .2 2.0 4.4 3.7 3.7

Blue-collar occupations ........................ 161.5 164.8 168.1 1.7 .4 2.0 3.8 3.8 4.1

Nonmanufacturing .................................... 165.4 169.3 171.1 1.5 .5 1.1 3.4 3.9 3.4

Region4

Northeast ...................................................... 163.8 167.9 170.2 1.5 .6 1.4 3.5 4.1 3.9

South ............................................................ 160.6 163.9 166.4 1.0 .4 1.5 2.8 3.1 3.6

Midwest ........................................................ 169.0 172.5 174.7 2.7 .5 1.3 4.9 4.8 3.4

West ............................................................. 167.3 172.2 175.3 1.4 .5 1.8 4.3 4.4 4.8

Area

Metropolitan .................................................. 165.2 169.1 171.5 1.7 .5 1.4 3.8 4.1 3.8

Other ............................................................. 163.5 166.9 170.2 1.7 .5 2.0 3.8 3.8 4.1

1 Includes wages, salaries, and employer costs for employee benefits. 2 Includes mining, construction, and manufacturing. 3 Includes transportation, communication, and public utilities;

wholesale and retail trade; finance, insurance, and real estate; and service

industries.

4 The regional coverage is as follows: Northeast: Connecticut, Maine,

Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania,

Rhode Island, and Vermont; South: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, District

of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi,

North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia,

and West Virginia; Midwest: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan,

Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and

Wisconsin; and West: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii,

Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and

Wyoming.

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

for the aggregate, occupation, and industry series.
12 

Table 5. Employment Cost Index for wages and salaries for civilian and State and local government workers, by

industry and occupational group 

(Not seasonally adjusted data)

Industry and occupational group

Indexes (June 1989=100) Percent changes for–

Mar.

2003

Dec.

2003

Mar.

2004

3 months ended– 12 months ended–

Mar.

2003

Dec.

2003

Mar.

2004

Mar.

2003

Dec.

2003

Mar.

2004

Civilian workers ............................................ 159.3 162.3 163.3 1.0 0.3 0.6 2.9 2.9 2.5

Excluding sales occupations .................. 159.4 162.3 163.3 1.0 .4 .6 3.0 2.9 2.4

Industry

Goods producing1 ...................................... 156.3 158.7 159.9 .8 .3 .8 3.0 2.3 2.3

Manufacturing ......................................... 158.0 160.1 161.3 1.0 .3 .7 3.2 2.3 2.1

Service producing2 ..................................... 160.5 163.6 164.6 1.1 .4 .6 3.0 3.0 2.6

Services .................................................. 161.9 165.4 166.5 .5 .4 .7 2.4 2.7 2.8

Health services ................................... 162.0 165.9 167.7 .7 .7 1.1 3.0 3.1 3.5

Hospitals ......................................... 163.5 167.7 169.0 .8 .8 .8 4.0 3.4 3.4

Educational services ........................... 160.4 163.2 163.6 .2 .3 .2 3.3 1.9 2.0

Public administration3 ............................. 157.2 160.0 161.1 .9 .4 .7 3.1 2.7 2.5

Nonmanufacturing ...................................... 159.6 162.7 163.7 1.0 .4 .6 3.0 3.0 2.6

Occupational group

White collar ................................................. 161.9 165.1 166.1 1.1 .4 .6 3.1 3.1 2.6

Excluding sales ................................... 162.5 165.7 166.7 1.1 .4 .6 3.1 3.1 2.6

Professional specialty and technical ....... 159.3 162.5 163.8 .4 .4 .8 2.4 2.5 2.8

Executive, administrative, and

managerial ............................................ 167.9 171.2 171.4 2.5 .4 .1 4.5 4.5 2.1

Administrative support, including

clerical .................................................. 161.8 164.9 166.3 .7 .4 .8 2.9 2.7 2.8

Blue collar ................................................... 153.8 156.3 157.3 .8 .3 .6 2.7 2.4 2.3

Service ........................................................ 158.0 160.6 161.2 .7 .5 .4 2.5 2.4 2.0

State and local government ......................... 159.2 161.9 162.5 .4 .4 .4 3.1 2.1 2.1

Industry

Services .................................................. 159.5 162.1 162.6 .2 .3 .3 3.2 1.8 1.9

Excluding schools ........................... 161.4 164.5 165.1 .7 .8 .4 3.0 2.6 2.3

Health services ................................... 162.9 166.7 167.4 .4 1.0 .4 3.2 2.8 2.8

Hospitals ......................................... 163.1 166.7 167.4 .4 .7 .4 3.4 2.6 2.6

Educational services ........................... 159.1 161.6 162.0 .1 .2 .2 3.2 1.7 1.8

Schools ........................................... 159.2 161.8 162.1 .1 .2 .2 3.2 1.8 1.8

Elementary and secondary ......... 158.2 160.9 161.3 .1 .2 .2 3.1 1.8 2.0

Colleges and universities ............ 162.1 164.0 164.3 .3 .3 .2 3.4 1.5 1.4

Public administration3 ............................. 157.2 160.0 161.1 .9 .4 .7 3.1 2.7 2.5

Occupational group

White collar ................................................. 158.9 161.5 162.1 .3 .3 .4 3.2 2.0 2.0

Professional specialty and technical ....... 158.8 161.4 162.1 .3 .2 .4 3.4 1.9 2.1

Executive, administrative, and

managerial ............................................ 160.9 163.3 163.5 .5 .5 .1 2.7 2.0 1.6

Administrative support, including

clerical .................................................. 156.9 159.5 160.4 .6 .3 .6 3.3 2.2 2.2

Blue collar ................................................... 156.2 158.3 158.9 .7 .4 .4 3.0 2.1 1.7

Service ........................................................ 162.7 165.8 166.7 .9 .5 .5 2.8 2.9 2.5

1 Includes mining, construction, and manufacturing. 2 Includes transportation, communication, and public utilities;

wholesale and retail trade; finance, insurance, and real estate; service

industries; and public administration. 3 Includes executive, legislative, judicial, administrative, and regulatory

activities of State and local governments, SICs 91 through 96.
13 

Table 6. Employment Cost Index for wages and salaries for private industry workers by industry and

occupational group 

(Not seasonally adjusted data)

Industry and occupational group

Indexes (June 1989=100) Percent changes for–

Mar.

2003

Dec.

2003

Mar.

2004

3 months ended– 12 months ended–

Mar.

2003

Dec.

2003

Mar.

2004

Mar.

2003

Dec.

2003

Mar.

2004

Private industry workers .............................. 159.3 162.3 163.4 1.1 0.4 0.7 3.0 3.0 2.6

Excluding sales occupations .................. 159.4 162.4 163.5 1.2 .4 .7 2.9 3.1 2.6

Industry

Goods producing1 .................................... 156.3 158.7 159.9 .8 .3 .8 3.0 2.4 2.3

Excluding sales ................................... 155.4 158.0 159.2 .9 .4 .8 3.0 2.6 2.4

White collar ............................................. 160.0 162.1 163.2 .9 .1 .7 3.2 2.2 2.0

Excluding sales ................................... 158.0 160.4 161.5 1.1 .3 .7 3.3 2.6 2.2

Blue collar ............................................... 153.8 156.4 157.7 .8 .3 .8 2.8 2.5 2.5

Construction ........................................... 150.6 154.0 155.1 .3 .3 .7 2.4 2.5 3.0

Manufacturing ......................................... 158.0 160.1 161.3 1.0 .3 .7 3.2 2.3 2.1

White collar ......................................... 160.1 162.1 163.3 .9 .1 .7 3.4 2.2 2.0

Excluding sales ............................... 157.7 160.0 161.2 1.2 .3 .8 3.5 2.6 2.2

Blue collar ........................................... 156.3 158.5 159.8 1.0 .4 .8 3.0 2.5 2.2

Durables ............................................. 158.8 160.9 161.9 1.0 .2 .6 3.2 2.3 2.0

Aircraft manufacturing (SIC 3721) .. 166.0 167.7 170.6 1.8 .2 1.7 2.9 2.8 2.8

White collar ................................. 160.4 160.6 164.7 2.7 .2 2.6 2.9 2.8 2.7

Blue collar ................................... 173.6 178.2 178.4 .2 .2 .1 2.7 2.9 2.8

Nondurables ....................................... 156.6 158.7 160.4 .9 .3 1.1 3.1 2.3 2.4

Service producing2 .................................. 160.6 163.9 165.0 1.3 .4 .7 2.9 3.3 2.7

Excluding sales ................................... 161.7 165.0 166.0 1.3 .5 .6 2.9 3.4 2.7

White collar ............................................. 163.0 166.6 167.8 1.4 .4 .7 3.0 3.7 2.9

Excluding sales ................................... 165.3 169.0 170.2 1.5 .5 .7 3.1 3.8 3.0

Blue collar ............................................... 153.2 155.4 156.2 .8 .2 .5 2.5 2.2 2.0

Service .................................................... 155.1 157.4 158.0 .6 .5 .4 2.3 2.1 1.9

Transportation and public utilities ........... 154.8 156.5 157.6 .5 .3 .7 2.9 1.6 1.8

Transportation .................................... 150.5 150.8 151.7 .3 .3 .6 2.1 .5 .8

Public utilities ...................................... 160.4 164.1 165.3 .7 .4 .7 4.0 3.0 3.1

Communications ............................. 161.9 165.9 167.0 .7 .3 .7 4.2 3.2 3.2

Electric, gas, and sanitary

services ........................................ 158.6 161.8 163.3 .8 .5 .9 3.7 2.8 3.0

Wholesale and retail trade ...................... 156.7 159.5 160.3 .8 .2 .5 2.4 2.6 2.3

Excluding sales ............................... 157.9 161.3 162.3 .6 .4 .6 2.0 2.7 2.8

Wholesale trade .................................. 163.4 165.3 166.2 1.5 .3 .5 3.9 2.7 1.7

Excluding sales ............................... 163.9 166.3 167.8 .1 .4 .9 2.8 1.6 2.4

Retail trade ......................................... 153.1 156.5 157.3 .3 .1 .5 1.5 2.5 2.7

General merchandise stores .......... 149.8 153.6 154.1 .4 .3 .3 1.3 2.9 2.9

Food stores ..................................... 151.0 152.8 153.8 .5 .4 .7 2.0 1.7 1.9

Finance, insurance, and real estate ....... 171.1 174.5 175.2 5.2 .2 .4 6.7 7.3 2.4

Excluding sales ............................... 176.7 179.8 179.2 5.6 .3 -.3 7.4 7.5 1.4

Banking, savings and loan, and other

credit agencies ................................. 206.4 210.2 206.7 12.2 .5 -1.7 13.9 14.3 .1

Insurance ............................................ 161.6 164.5 165.1 1.6 .4 .4 2.9 3.4 2.2

Excluding sales ............................... 157.9 160.7 161.7 1.3 .2 .6 2.3 3.1 2.4

Services .................................................. 162.8 166.7 168.1 .7 .5 .8 2.1 3.1 3.3

Business services ............................... 165.6 169.8 171.0 .5 .4 .7 1.0 3.0 3.3

Health services ................................... 161.9 165.8 167.8 .7 .7 1.2 2.9 3.2 3.6

Hospitals ......................................... 163.6 167.9 169.4 .9 .8 .9 4.1 3.6 3.5

Nursing homes ............................... – – – .8 .6 .8 3.5 2.8 2.7

Educational services ........................... 167.1 171.0 171.9 .4 .4 .5 3.7 2.7 2.9

Colleges and universities ................ 164.4 168.4 169.5 .1 .5 .7 2.8 2.5 3.1

See footnotes at end of table.
14 

Table 6. Employment Cost Index for wages and salaries for private industry workers by industry and

occupational group — Continued

(Not seasonally adjusted data)

Industry and occupational group

Indexes (June 1989=100) Percent changes for–

Mar.

2003

Dec.

2003

Mar.

2004

3 months ended– 12 months ended–

Mar.

2003

Dec.

2003

Mar.

2004

Mar.

2003

Dec.

2003

Mar.

2004

Industry–Continued

Nonmanufacturing industries ................. 159.4 162.6 163.7 1.2 0.3 0.7 2.8 3.2 2.7

White collar ............................................. 162.8 166.3 167.5 1.4 .4 .7 3.0 3.6 2.9

Excluding sales ................................... 164.9 168.5 169.7 1.5 .5 .7 3.0 3.7 2.9

Blue collar ............................................... 151.1 153.8 154.7 .6 .3 .6 2.4 2.4 2.4

Service .................................................... 155.0 157.3 157.9 .6 .5 .4 2.4 2.1 1.9

Occupational group

White collar ............................................... 162.6 165.9 167.1 1.4 .4 .7 3.1 3.4 2.8

Excluding sales ................................... 163.6 167.0 168.1 1.4 .5 .7 3.2 3.5 2.8

Professional specialty and technical ....... 159.5 163.0 164.7 .6 .6 1.0 1.8 2.8 3.3

Executive, administrative, and

managerial ............................................ 169.1 172.5 172.7 2.8 .4 .1 4.8 4.9 2.1

Sales ....................................................... 158.1 161.1 162.6 .8 -.3 .9 2.9 2.7 2.8

Administrative support, including

clerical .................................................. 162.6 165.7 167.2 .8 .4 .9 2.8 2.7 2.8

Blue collar ................................................. 153.6 156.1 157.2 .8 .3 .7 2.7 2.4 2.3

Precision production, craft, and repair .... 153.4 156.2 157.1 .7 .5 .6 2.8 2.6 2.4

Machine operators, assemblers, and

inspectors ............................................. 154.7 156.9 158.6 1.0 .1 1.1 2.8 2.4 2.5

Transportation and material moving ....... 147.8 149.8 150.4 .6 .0 .4 2.1 2.0 1.8

Handlers, equipment cleaners, helpers,

and laborers .......................................... 158.4 160.6 161.8 .8 .4 .7 2.7 2.2 2.1

Service ....................................................... 155.5 157.8 158.4 .6 .4 .4 2.3 2.1 1.9

Production and nonsupervisory

occupations3 ........................................... 156.4 159.4 160.7 .8 .4 .8 2.4 2.7 2.7

1 Includes mining, construction, and manufacturing. 2 Includes transportation, communication, and public utilities;

wholesale and retail trade; finance, insurance, and real estate; and service

industries.

3 This series has the same industry and occupational coverage as the

Hourly Earnings Index, which was discontinued in January 1989.

NOTE: Dashes indicate data not available.
15 

Table 7. Employment Cost Index for wages and salaries for private industry workers by bargaining status,

region, and area 

(Not seasonally adjusted data)

Bargaining status, region, and area

Indexes (June 1989=100) Percent changes for–

Mar.

2003

Dec.

2003

Mar.

2004

3 months ended– 12 months ended–

Mar.

2003

Dec.

2003

Mar.

2004

Mar.

2003

Dec.

2003

Mar.

2004

Bargaining status

Union ........................................................... 153.3 156.2 157.2 0.5 0.6 0.6 3.3 2.4 2.5

Blue-collar occupations ........................ 150.5 153.5 154.3 .6 .5 .5 3.4 2.6 2.5

Goods-producing industries1 .................... 152.4 155.4 156.3 .8 .4 .6 3.5 2.8 2.6

Service-producing industries2 .................. 154.6 157.3 158.5 .3 .6 .8 3.1 2.1 2.5

Manufacturing ........................................... 154.6 157.1 158.1 1.0 .3 .6 3.8 2.6 2.3

Blue-collar occupations ........................ 153.3 155.8 156.7 1.0 .4 .6 3.7 2.6 2.2

Nonmanufacturing .................................... 152.5 155.6 156.6 .3 .6 .6 3.0 2.3 2.7

Nonunion ..................................................... 160.4 163.4 164.6 1.2 .2 .7 2.9 3.1 2.6

Blue-collar occupations ........................ 155.5 157.8 159.0 .8 .2 .8 2.4 2.3 2.3

Goods-producing industries1 .................... 157.8 160.1 161.4 .8 .3 .8 2.8 2.2 2.3

Service-producing industries2 .................. 161.2 164.5 165.6 1.4 .3 .7 2.9 3.5 2.7

Manufacturing ........................................... 159.3 161.3 162.6 1.0 .2 .8 3.0 2.2 2.1

Blue-collar occupations ........................ 158.3 160.4 161.9 1.0 .4 .9 2.6 2.3 2.3

Nonmanufacturing .................................... 160.4 163.7 164.7 1.3 .4 .6 2.9 3.4 2.7

Region3

Northeast ...................................................... 157.3 160.9 162.0 1.0 .6 .7 2.5 3.3 3.0

South ............................................................ 155.3 157.9 159.1 .5 .3 .8 1.8 2.1 2.4

Midwest ........................................................ 164.1 166.5 166.9 2.4 .2 .2 4.5 3.9 1.7

West ............................................................. 161.3 165.2 166.8 .7 .3 1.0 3.1 3.2 3.4

Area

Metropolitan .................................................. 159.6 162.7 163.8 1.1 .3 .7 2.9 3.0 2.6

Other ............................................................. 156.8 159.5 160.8 1.3 .4 .8 3.4 3.0 2.6

1 Includes mining, construction, and manufacturing. 2 Includes transportation, communication, and public utilities;

wholesale and retail trade; finance, insurance, and real estate; and service

industries.

3 The regional coverage is as follows: Northeast: Connecticut, Maine,

Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania,

Rhode Island, and Vermont; South: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, District

of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi,

North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia,

and West Virginia; Midwest: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan,

Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and

Wisconsin; and West: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii,

Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and

Wyoming.

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

for the aggregate, occupation, and industry series.
16 

Table 8. Employment Cost Index for benefits for civilian, State and local government, and private industry

workers by industry, occupational group, and bargaining status 

(Not seasonally adjusted data)

Industry, occupational group, and

bargaining status

Indexes (June 1989=100) Percent changes for–

Mar.

2003

Dec.

2003

Mar.

2004

3 months ended– 12 months ended–

Mar.

2003

Dec.

2003

Mar.

2004

Mar.

2003

Dec.

2003

Mar.

2004

Civilian workers .......................................... 177.8 184.3 190.0 2.6 0.8 3.1 6.1 6.3 6.9

State and local government ........................ 170.5 178.5 181.1 1.4 .9 1.5 6.6 6.1 6.2

Private industry ........................................... 179.6 185.8 192.2 2.9 .8 3.4 6.1 6.4 7.0

Industry

Goods producing1 .................................. 178.0 183.8 193.7 4.1 .8 5.4 7.4 7.5 8.8

Service producing2 ................................. 179.9 186.2 190.6 2.3 .8 2.4 5.4 5.9 5.9

Manufacturing ......................................... 176.9 182.3 194.4 4.7 .7 6.6 8.1 7.9 9.9

Aircraft manufacturing (SIC 3721) ...... 220.4 213.4 260.6 14.6 -3.6 22.1 22.0 10.9 18.2

White collar ..................................... 219.7 216.3 264.0 17.5 -1.1 22.1 21.6 15.7 20.2

Blue collar ....................................... 220.1 207.5 253.1 10.4 -7.4 22.0 22.6 4.1 15.0

Nonmanufacturing .................................. 180.3 186.7 190.9 2.3 .9 2.2 5.4 5.9 5.9

Occupational group

White collar ............................................. 183.6 189.2 194.4 2.9 .8 2.7 5.8 6.0 5.9

Blue collar ............................................... 172.7 179.9 188.3 2.9 .8 4.7 6.5 7.2 9.0

Service .................................................... 180.2 186.4 193.4 3.0 1.2 3.8 6.7 6.6 7.3

Bargaining status

Union ...................................................... 178.7 187.1 198.8 3.5 .9 6.3 7.3 8.3 11.2

Nonunion ................................................ 179.5 185.1 190.2 2.7 .8 2.8 5.8 6.0 6.0

1 Includes mining, construction, and manufacturing. 2 Includes transportation, communication, and public utilities; 

 

wholesale and retail trade; finance, insurance, and real estate; and service

industries. 
17 

EXPLANATORY 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 change 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 lumpsum payments provided in lieu of wage increases); insurance benefits—life, health, short-term disability, and 

long-term disability; retirement and savings benefits—defined benefit and defined contribution plans; legally 

required benefits—Social Security, Medicare, Federal and State unemployment insurance, and workers' 

compensation; and other benefits—severance pay and supplemental unemployment plans. 

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

excluding 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. 

Data for this quarter were collected from a probability sample of approximately 35,600 occupational 

observations within about 8,200 sample establishments in private industry and approximately 3,600

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. 

The sampled establishments are classified by industry categories based on the 1987 Standard Industrial 

Classification (SIC), as defined by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget. Details on the sample design 

are included in the bulletin, Employment Cost Indexes, 1975-99, (Bulletin 2532). Within an establishment, 

specific job categories are selected and classified into about 500 occupational classifications according to the 

1990 Census of Population. Individual occupations are combined into broader occupational groups. 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 occupation series 

indexes. Since March 1995, 1990 employment counts, primarily from the Bureau’s Occupational 

Employment Statistics survey, have been used. For more information on these topics, see the articles, 

“Introducing New Weights for the Employment Cost Index,” in the June 1985 issue of the Monthly Labor 

Review and “Introducing 1990 Weights for the Employment Cost Index” in the June 1995 issue of 

Compensation and Working Conditions. 

For the series based on bargaining status, region, and area size, employment data are not available. The 

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

indexes for these series, consequently, are not strictly comparable to those for the aggregate, industry, and 

occupation series. A fuller explanation of the calculation of index numbers appears in an article, "Estimation 

Procedures for the Employment Cost Index," in the May 1982 issue of the Monthly Labor Review. Beginning 

with the March 1990 ECI release, indexes were rebased to June 1989=100. A description of the rebasing is 

included in the article "Employment Cost Index Rebased to June 1989," in the April 1990 issue of the Monthly 

Labor Review. 

Beginning with the December 1990 ECI release, seasonally adjusted data are available for selected ECI 

series. 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. For more information on the methodology 

used to seasonally adjust ECI series, see the bulletin, Employment Cost Indexes, 1975-99, (Bulletin 2532). 

The seasonal adjustment factors are recalculated once a 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 
18 

the newly estimated factors. The seasonal factors for 2004 and revised seasonally adjusted indexes for the past 

five years are available on the Internet site (http://www.bls.gov/ncs/ect/home.htm) or upon request. 

The ECI sample is rotated over approximately five years, which makes the sample more representative 

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

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. 

Because standard errors vary from quarter to quarter, the ECI uses a five-year moving average of 

standard errors to evaluate published series. To assist users in ascertaining the reliability of series, the fiveyear moving average of standard errors for all estimates (excluding seasonally adjusted series) will be 

available on the Internet site (http://www.bls.gov/ncs/ect/home.htm) shortly after 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. For 

example, union occupations tend to be concentrated in blue-collar occupations within manufacturing 

industries. Thus, differences between blue-collar and white-collar pay or differences in manufacturing versus 

nonmanufacturing industries could explain such differences. An important consideration when choosing a 

series for escalation is the number of workers covered. Series with smaller numbers of workers may have 

larger sampling errors or be dominated by a smaller number of employers. 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 an historical 

bulletin—Employment Cost Indexes, 1975-99, (Bulletin 2532), a chapter, “National Compensation 

Measures,” in the BLS Handbook of Methods (Bulletin 2490), and several articles published in the Monthly 

Labor Review and Compensation and Working Conditions. The bulletin is available from the Superintendent 

of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402, or Bureau of Labor Statistics, 

Publications Sales Center, P.O. Box 2145, Chicago, Illinois 60690, (312) 353-1880. Reprints of the articles 

and other descriptive pieces are available upon request by calling (202) 691-6199 or sending e-mail to 

(ocltinfo@bls.gov). 

Historical data series are available, beginning with some wage and salary series begun in 1975. In 

addition, constant-dollar ECI series derived from the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) 

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

health insurance in private industry beginning with June 1982 are also available. This information is available 

at the Internet site (http://www.bls.gov/ect/home.htm) or upon request. 

The costs per hour worked of compensation components, based on data from the ECI, were recently 

published in a separate news release titled "Employer Costs for Employee Compensation–December 2003." 

Historical data and related articles are included in the bulletin, Employer Costs for Employee Compensation, 

1986-99, (Bulletin 2526). An annual historical summary from March 1986 through March 2002 is also 

available on the Internet site (http://www.bls.gov/ncs/ect/home.htm) or upon request. Data are also available 

on a quarterly basis beginning with June 2002 data. The cost levels are calculated with current employment 

weights, rather than the fixed 1990 weights used in computing the ECI. Therefore, year-to-year changes in the 

cost levels usually differ from those in the ECI. 

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.