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      http://stats.bls.gov/ecthome.htm       THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 1999
                                     
                    EMPLOYMENT COST INDEX-DECEMBER 1998
     
     The Employment Cost Index (ECI), not seasonally adjusted, for December
 1998 was 139.8 (June 1989=100), an increase of 3.4 percent from December
 1997, the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics reported
 today.  The ECI measures changes in compensation costs, which include
 wages, salaries, and employer costs for employee benefits.

 Quarterly changes, seasonally adjusted
    
     On a seasonally adjusted basis, compensation costs for civilian
 workers (private industry plus state and local government) rose 0.7
 percent during the September-December 1998 period, following a gain of 1.0
 percent in September 1998.  Wages and salaries also increased 0.7 percent
 during the September-December 1998 period.  The increase was 1.2 percent
 in the June-September 1998 period.  Benefit costs increased 0.6 percent in
 the September-December 1998 period; for each of the two previous quarters,
 the increase was 0.8 percent.
     

 Table A. 3-month percent changes in Employment Cost Index, seasonally
 adjusted
                          Mar.  June  Sep.  Dec.  Mar.  June   Sep.  Dec.
 Compensation Component   1997  1997  1997  1997  1998  1998   1998  1998
         Civilian workers                                                
 Compensation costs       0.7    0.8   0.8   1.0   0.7   0.9    1.0   0.7
   Wages and salaries     0.8    0.9   0.9   1.1   0.8   0.9    1.2   0.7
   Benefit costs          0.3    0.5   0.5   0.8   0.4   0.8    0.8   0.6
         Private industry                                                
 Compensation costs       0.6    0.9   0.8   1.0   0.7   0.9    1.1   0.7
   Wages and salaries     0.9    0.9   1.0   1.1   0.8   1.0    1.3   0.7
   Benefit costs          0.1    0.6   0.5   0.9   0.3   0.8    0.7   0.6
         State and local government                                      
 Compensation costs       0.6    0.5   0.6   0.6   0.8   0.7    0.8   0.6
   Wages and salaries     0.6    0.6   0.7   0.8   0.7   0.7    0.7   0.8
   Benefit costs          0.4    0.3   0.3   0.3   0.8   0.7    1.0   0.4
 
     Compensation costs for private industry workers increased 0.7 percent
 during the September-December 1998 period; in September, the increase was
 1.1 percent.  The 3-month change in costs of wages and salaries was 0.7
 percent in December 1998; in September, it was 1.3 percent.  Benefit costs
 rose 0.6 percent in December 1998; in September, the increase was 0.7
 percent.  (See tables A and 1.)
     
     The change in compensation costs for workers in the goods-producing
 industries was 0.6 percent during the September-December period and 0.7
 percent in the previous 3-month period.  The change in compensation costs
 in the service-producing industries was 0.8 percent in December 1998, down
 from 1.3 percent in September 1998.  The 3-month change in wages and
 salaries in the service-producing industries was 0.7 percent after a 1.5
 percent gain in September.  Benefit costs rose 0.8 percent in December for
 workers in the service-producing industries, the same gain as in
 September.  (See table 1.)
     
     Compensation costs for state and local government workers increased
 0.6 percent during the September-December 1998 period, following a gain of
 0.8 percent in September.  Wages and salaries increased 0.8 percent in
 December, following gains of 0.7 percent in each of the previous three
 quarters.  Benefit costs increased 0.4 percent in the December quarter;
 the previous quarterly increase was 1.0 percent.  (See tables A and 1.)
     
 Over-the-year changes, not seasonally adjusted
     
     Compensation costs for civilian workers (not seasonally adjusted) were
 up 3.4 percent for the year ended in December 1998.  This compares with
 increases of 3.3 percent in December 1997 and 2.9 percent in December
 1996.  Compensation costs in private industry rose 3.5 percent in December
 1998, compared with a 3.4 percent increase in December 1997 and 3.1
 percent in December 1996.  Compensation costs for state and local
 governments increased 3.0 percent for the year ended in December 1998.
 The gain in local and state governments for the year ended in December
 1997 was 2.3 percent, and, in December 1996, the increase was 2.6 percent.
 (See tables B, 2, and 3.)
     
     Private industry
     
     In private industry, wages and salaries rose 3.9 percent for the year
 ended in December 1998, the same as reported for the year ended in
 December 1997.  (See tables B and 6.)  Benefit costs for private industry
 workers increased 2.4 percent for the year ended in December 1998,
 compared with 2.3 percent in December 1997.  (See chart A and tables B and
 8.)
     
     In private industry, over-the-year compensation cost increases were
 3.9 percent for white-collar occupations, 2.7 percent for blue-collar
 occupations, and 2.9 percent for service occupations.  Among the
 occupational groups, changes in compensation costs ranged from 1.4 percent
 for transportation and material moving occupations to 6.8 percent for
 sales occupations.  Compensation costs for executive, administrative, and
 managerial occupations increased 3.2 percent. (See table 3.)
     
 Table B. 12-month percent changes in Employment Cost Index, not seasonally
 adjusted
                         Dec.  Dec.  Dec.  Dec.  Dec.  Dec.
 Compensation Component  1993  1994  1995  1996  1997  1998
         Civilian workers
 Compensation costs      3.5    3.0   2.7   2.9   3.3   3.4
   Wages and salaries    3.1    2.8   2.9   3.3   3.8   3.7
   Benefit costs         4.6    3.4   2.3   2.0   2.1   2.6
         Private industry
 Compensation costs      3.6    3.1   2.6   3.1   3.4   3.5
   Wages and salaries    3.1    2.8   2.8   3.4   3.9   3.9
   Benefit costs         5.0    3.7   2.2   2.0   2.3   2.4
         State and local government
 Compensation costs      2.8    3.0   2.9   2.6   2.3   3.0
   Wages and salaries    2.7    3.1   3.2   2.8   2.7   3.1
   Benefit costs         2.9    2.8   2.6   2.2   1.3   3.0
     
     The changes in private industry compensation costs were 3.8 percent in
 service-producing industries and 2.8 percent in goods-producing industries
 for the year ended December 1998.  Compensation costs had risen 3.9
 percent in service-producing industries and 2.4 percent in goods-producing
 industries in the prior year.  Among industry divisions, December 1997-to-
 December 1998 changes ranged from 2.7 percent in manufacturing to 5.9
 percent in finance, insurance, and real estate.  (See table 3.)
     
     The changes in compensation costs for nonunion workers in private
 industry were reported at 3.5 percent, while costs for union workers were
 3.0 percent.  Compensation costs in service-producing industries increased
 3.9 percent for nonunion workers and 3.0 percent for union workers.  At
 the same time, compensation costs in goods-producing industries increased
 3.0 percent for union workers and 2.7 percent for nonunion workers.  In
 manufacturing, the total compensation increase was 2.7 percent for union
 workers and 2.6 percent for nonunion workers.  Compensation in blue-collar
 occupations increased 2.8 percent for both union and nonunion workers.
 (See table 4.)
     
     State and local government
     
     In state and local governments, the December 1998 over-the-year
 increase in wages and salaries was 3.1 percent, less than the 3.9 percent
 recorded in private industry.  In December 1997, the increase was 2.7
 percent.  The December 1998 increase includes health services at 2.9
 percent, educational services at 3.0 percent, and public administration at
 3.4 percent.  State and local government benefit costs for December 1998
 increased 3.0 percent, up from the December 1997 increase of 1.3 percent.
 (See tables 5 and 8.)
     
 __________________________________________________________________________
                                  NOTES:
                                     
     Starting in March 1999, seasonal adjustment factors will be published
 to reflect the new seasonal patterns exhibited over the past year.  The
 new factors for 1999, along with revised seasonally adjusted indexes for
 the past five years, will be available Tuesday, April 27, 1999.  These
 data can be obtained on the Internet site (http://stats.gov/ecthome.htm)
 or upon request.
     
     The ECI for March 1999 is scheduled to be released Thursday, April 29,
 1999, at 8:30 a.m. (EDT).
     
     ECI data are available on the ECI home page
 (http://stats.bls.gov/ecthome.htm).  To access data using Anonymous FTP,
 use the Internet address (ftp://ftp.bls.gov).
     
     Send e-mail for technical assistance in using the BLS Internet site
 (labstat.helpdesk@bls.gov) or for ECI data requests (ocltinfo@bls.gov).
     
     News releases and other information are available from the BLS fax-on-
 demand service.  To request a document fax, call 202-606-6325.  To request
 a catalog of available documents, select option 2 at the initial voice
 prompt.  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
 __________________________________________________________________________


Table 1.  Employment Cost Index for total compensation(1), wages and salaries, and benefit costs by industry
and occupational group

(Seasonally adjusted data)
                                                                                                             
                                                                                                             
                                        Indexes (June           Percent changes for 3-months ended-          
                                          1989=100)                                                          
    Industry and occupational group                                                                          
                                                                                                             
                                         Sep.   Dec.   Mar.   June   Sep.   Dec.   Mar.   June   Sep.   Dec. 
                                         1998   1998   1997   1997   1997   1997   1998   1998   1998   1998 
                                                                                                             
                                                                                                             
                                                                                                             
          TOTAL COMPENSATION                                                                                 
                                                                                                             
Civilian workers.......................  138.7  139.7    0.7    0.8    0.8    1.0    0.7    0.9    1.0    0.7
 State and local government............  138.6  139.5     .6     .5     .6     .6     .8     .7     .8     .6
 Private industry......................  138.7  139.7     .6     .9     .8    1.0     .7     .9    1.1     .7
                                                                                                             
               Industry                                                                                      
                                                                                                             
   Goods producing(2)..................  137.1  137.9     .3     .9     .8     .4     .6     .9     .7     .6
     Construction(3)...................  133.1  134.6     .6     .8     .7     .5     .7    1.2     .5    1.1
     Manufacturing.....................  138.2  138.9     .3     .8     .7     .5     .7     .5     .9     .5
       Durables........................  138.5  139.3     .2     .8     .7     .6     .5     .6     .9     .6
       Nondurables.....................  137.8  138.3     .4     .9     .8     .5     .9     .5    1.0     .4
                                                                                                             
   Service producing(4)................  139.5  140.6     .8     .8     .9    1.3     .7     .9    1.3     .8
     Transportation and public                                                                               
      utilities(5).....................  138.6  139.3     .4     .7     .8    1.0    1.0    1.3     .9     .5
     Wholesale trade(3)................  140.8  143.0    1.4     .4     .8     .5    1.8     .4    1.8    1.6
     Retail trade......................  135.6  135.6    1.1     .7     .9     .6    1.3     .7     .9     .0
     Finance, insurance, and real                                                                            
      estate(3)(6).....................  141.0  142.5    2.1     .6     .9    3.1    1.6    1.2    1.9    1.1
     Services..........................  141.8  142.8     .7     .9    1.0    1.2     .4     .8    1.1     .7
                                                                                                             
   Nonmanufacturing....................  138.8  139.9     .8     .8     .8    1.3     .7    1.0    1.2     .8
                                                                                                             
          Occupational group                                                                                 
                                                                                                             
   White collar........................  141.1  142.2     .8     .8     .9    1.3     .8     .9    1.3     .8
   Blue collar.........................  135.1  136.1     .3     .8     .8     .7     .5     .8     .7     .7
   Service.............................  137.0  137.4     .9     .9    1.6     .5    1.0     .7     .9     .3
                                                                                                             
                                                                                                             
                                                                                                             
          WAGES AND SALARIES                                                                                 
                                                                                                             
Civilian workers.......................  136.7  137.7     .8     .9     .9    1.1     .8     .9    1.2     .7
 State and local government............  137.1  138.2     .6     .6     .7     .8     .7     .7     .7     .8
 Private industry......................  136.6  137.6     .9     .9    1.0    1.1     .8    1.0    1.3     .7
                                                                                                             
               Industry                                                                                      
                                                                                                             
   Goods producing(2)(6)...............  134.3  135.2     .6    1.1     .8     .5    1.1     .9     .8     .7
     Construction(3)...................  128.2  129.5    1.1     .9     .8     .6    1.0    1.3     .2    1.0
     Manufacturing(6)..................  136.0  136.8     .5     .9     .8     .7    1.1     .7    1.0     .6
       Durables(6).....................  135.9  136.9    0.5    0.9    0.8    0.5    1.1    0.8    1.0    0.7
       Nondurables.....................  136.1  136.9     .5     .9     .8     .9    1.1     .4    1.0     .6
                                                                                                             
   Service producing(4)................  137.6  138.6     .9     .9    1.1    1.4     .8    1.0    1.5     .7
     Transportation and public                                                                               
      utilities(5).....................  134.4  135.0     .8     .8     .9     .8     .5     .8    1.1     .4
     Wholesale trade(3)................  139.3  141.3    1.6     .2     .8     .5    2.2     .2    1.8    1.4
     Retail trade......................  135.0  134.8    1.0    1.0     .9     .7    1.1    1.0    1.3    -.1
     Finance, insurance, and real                                                                            
      estate(3)(6).....................  138.1  139.8    1.9     .6     .9    3.3    1.5    1.7    2.4    1.2
     Services..........................  140.0  140.8     .9    1.1    1.2    1.1     .7     .9    1.2     .6
                                                                                                             
   Nonmanufacturing....................  136.3  137.6     .9     .9    1.0    1.3     .8    1.0    1.2    1.0
WAGES AND SALARIES-Continued                                                                                 
                                                                                                             
          Occupational group                                                                                 
                                                                                                             
   White collar........................  139.0  140.1    0.9    0.9    1.1    1.3    0.9    1.0    1.5    0.8
   Blue collar(6)......................  132.4  133.2     .7    1.0     .8     .6     .9     .8     .8     .6
   Service.............................  134.4  135.0     .9    1.0    1.6     .7    1.0     .9     .8     .4
                                                                                                             
                                                                                                             
                                                                                                             
             BENEFIT COSTS                                                                                   
                                                                                                             
Civilian workers.......................  143.8  144.6     .3     .5     .5     .8     .4     .8     .8     .6
 State and local government............  142.0  142.6     .4     .3     .3     .3     .8     .7    1.0     .4
 Private industry......................  144.2  145.1     .1     .6     .5     .9     .3     .8     .7     .6
                                                                                                             
               Industry                                                                                      
                                                                                                             
   Goods producing(2)..................  143.0  143.5    -.1     .6     .6     .2    -.3     .6     .5     .3
     Manufacturing.....................  142.7  143.0    -.3     .8     .5     .4    -.4     .5     .4     .2
                                                                                                             
   Service producing(4)................  144.9  146.0     .4     .6     .5    1.4     .6     .8     .8     .8
                                                                                                             
   Nonmanufacturing....................  145.0  146.0     .4     .6     .5    1.1     .6    1.0     .8     .7
                                                                                                             
          Occupational group                                                                                 
                                                                                                             
   White collar........................  146.4  147.8     .4     .5     .3    1.4     .5     .7     .6    1.0
   Blue collar.........................  140.9  141.6     .1     .4     .6     .2     .1     .8     .4     .5
   Service(3)..........................  144.8  144.6     .8     .9    1.4     .2    1.1     .2     .8    -.1

  1 Includes wages, salaries, and employer costs for employee benefits.
  2 Includes mining, construction, and manufacturing.
  3 Average standard errors (SE) for the unadjusted series upon which this series is based exceeded 0.3
percent for 3-month changes and 0.6 percent for 12-month changes for the five years ending December 1996. To
assist users in ascertaining the reliability of the series, SEs for estimates in this news release (excluding
seasonally adjusted series) will be available on the Internet site (http://stats.bls.gov/ecthome.htm).  All
series will continue to be published until further notice.
  4 Includes transportation, communication, and public utilities; wholesale and retail trade; finance,
insurance, and real estate; and service industries.
  5 Estimates for transportation and public utilities reflect the changes in SIC coding.  See Explanatory
Notes for further information.
  6 No identifiable seasonality was found for this series.



Table 2.  Employment Cost Index for total compensation(1) for civilian and State and local government workers by
industry and occupational group

(Not seasonally adjusted data)
                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                     
                                              Indexes (June 1989=100)               Percent changes for-             
                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                     
       Industry and occupational group                                    3 months ended-         12 months ended-   
                                                Dec.    Sep.    Dec.                                                 
                                                1997    1998    1998                                                 
                                                                        Dec.    Sep.    Dec.    Dec.    Sep.    Dec. 
                                                                        1997    1998    1998    1997    1998    1998 
                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                     
Civilian workers.............................  135.2   139.0   139.8     0.8     1.2     0.6     3.3     3.7     3.4 
    Excluding sales occupations..............  135.3   138.8   139.5      .8     1.0      .5     3.1     3.4     3.1 
                                                                                                                     
                  Industry                                                                                           
                                                                                                                     
  Goods producing(2).........................  134.1   137.2   137.9      .4      .7      .5     2.4     2.7     2.8 
    Manufacturing............................  135.3   138.2   138.9      .5      .7      .5     2.4     2.7     2.7 
  Service producing(3).......................  135.5   139.6   140.4     1.0     1.4      .6     3.5     4.0     3.6 
    Services.................................  137.6   140.8   141.7      .8     1.3      .6     3.3     3.2     3.0 
      Health services........................  137.9   139.1   139.1      .9      .4      .0     2.6     1.8      .9 
        Hospitals............................  136.7   139.4   140.2      .8      .9      .6     2.2     2.8     2.6 
      Educational services...................  137.0   140.2   141.0      .4     1.8      .6     2.3     2.7     2.9 
    Public administration(4).................  135.1   138.9   139.9      .7     1.1      .7     2.5     3.6     3.6 
                                                                                                                     
  Nonmanufacturing...........................  135.1   139.0   139.9     1.0     1.2      .6     3.5     3.9     3.6 
                                                                                                                     
             Occupational group                                                                                      
                                                                                                                     
  White collar...............................  136.5   140.6   141.4     1.0     1.4      .6     3.5     4.0     3.6 
      Excluding sales........................  136.9   140.6   141.2     1.0     1.2      .4     3.4     3.7     3.1 
    Professional specialty and technical.....  136.7   140.0   141.0      .7     1.2      .7     2.7     3.1     3.1 
    Executive, administrative, and managerial  137.3   141.7   141.8     1.5     1.4      .1     4.4     4.7     3.3 
    Administrative support, including                                                                                
     clerical................................  136.9   140.4   141.3      .8      .8      .6     3.2     3.4     3.2 
  Blue collar................................  132.4   135.3   136.1      .5      .7      .6     2.6     2.7     2.8 
  Service....................................  135.6   139.4   140.0      .7     1.1      .4     3.5     3.6     3.2 
                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                     
State and local government...................  135.7   139.0   139.8      .5     1.5      .6     2.3     3.0     3.0 
                                                                                                                     
                  Industry                                                                                           
                                                                                                                     
    Services.................................  136.0   139.0   139.7      .4     1.8      .5     2.2     2.7     2.7 
        Excluding schools(5)(6)..............  135.3   138.7   138.8      .7     1.8      .1     2.5     3.2     2.6 
      Health services........................  137.2   140.3   140.7      .9     1.7      .3     2.3     3.2     2.6 
        Hospitals............................  137.6   140.7   141.2     1.0     1.7      .4     2.5     3.2     2.6 
      Educational services...................  135.9   138.8   139.6      .4     1.7      .6     2.2     2.5     2.7 
        Schools..............................  136.2   139.1   139.9      .4     1.8      .6     2.1     2.5     2.7 
          Elementary and secondary...........  135.8   138.8   139.3      .2     1.9      .4     2.0     2.4     2.6 
          Colleges and universities..........  137.2   140.1   141.5      .7     1.4     1.0     2.4     2.8     3.1 
    Public administration(4).................  135.1   138.9   139.9     0.7     1.1     0.7     2.5     3.6     3.6 
                                                                                                                     
             Occupational group                                                                                      
                                                                                                                     
  White collar...............................  135.5   138.4   139.3      .5     1.6      .7     2.3     2.7     2.8 
    Professional specialty and technical.....  135.1   137.7   138.5      .4     1.5      .6     2.1     2.3     2.5 
    Executive, administrative, and managerial  136.4   140.4   141.6      .6     1.8      .9     2.6     3.5     3.8 
    Administrative support, including                                                                                
     clerical................................  136.1   139.5   140.3      .6     1.7      .6     2.3     3.1     3.1 
  Blue collar................................  134.2   136.8   137.8      .7     1.2      .7     2.3     2.6     2.7 
  Service....................................  137.8   143.0   143.4      .6     1.4      .3     2.5     4.4     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; service industries; and public administration.
  4 Includes executive, legislative, judicial, administrative, and regulatory activities of State and local
governments, SIC's 91 through 96.
  5 Formerly called hospitals and other services.
  6 Average standard errors (SE) for the series exceed 0.3 percent for 3-month changes and 0.6 percent for 12-month
changes for the five years ending December 1996. To assist users in ascertaining the reliability of the series, SEs
for estimates in this news release (excluding seasonally adjusted series) will be available on the Internet site
(http://stats.bls.gov/ecthome.htm).  All series will continue to be published until further notice.



Table 3.  Employment Cost Index for total compensation(1) for private industry workers, by industry and occupational
group

(Not seasonally adjusted data)
                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                     
                                              Indexes (June 1989=100)               Percent changes for-             
                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                     
       Industry and occupational group                                    3 months ended-         12 months ended-   
                                                Dec.    Sep.    Dec.                                                 
                                                1997    1998    1998                                                 
                                                                        Dec.    Sep.    Dec.    Dec.    Sep.    Dec. 
                                                                        1997    1998    1998    1997    1998    1998 
                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                     
Private industry workers.....................  135.1   139.0   139.8     0.9     1.1     0.6     3.4     3.8     3.5 
    Excluding sales occupations..............  135.2   138.8   139.4      .8      .9      .4     3.4     3.5     3.1 
                                                                                                                     
                  Industry                                                                                           
                                                                                                                     
  Goods producing(2).........................  134.1   137.1   137.8      .4      .7      .5     2.4     2.6     2.8 
      Excluding sales........................  133.6   136.5   137.2      .4      .7      .5     2.4     2.6     2.7 
    White collar.............................  136.2   139.7   140.2      .4      .6      .4     2.5     3.0     2.9 
      Excluding sales........................  135.0   138.3   138.8      .4      .7      .4     2.2     2.8     2.8 
    Blue collar..............................  132.8   135.5   136.3      .3      .7      .6     2.5     2.3     2.6 
                                                                                                                     
    Construction(3)..........................  129.7   133.4   134.3      .0      .5      .7     2.6     2.9     3.5 
                                                                                                                     
    Manufacturing............................  135.3   138.2   138.9      .5      .7      .5     2.4     2.7     2.7 
      White collar...........................  136.7   140.1   140.5      .7      .7      .3     2.3     3.2     2.8 
        Excluding sales......................  135.3   138.3   138.7      .6      .7      .3     2.1     2.8     2.5 
      Blue collar............................  134.3   136.8   137.7      .4      .7      .7     2.4     2.3     2.5 
      Durables...............................  135.7   138.5   139.2      .5      .8      .5     2.3     2.6     2.6 
        Aircraft manufacturing (SIC 3721)....  136.9   139.3   139.7     -.7      .3      .3     -.4     1.1     2.0 
          White collar.......................  134.3   137.4   136.6     -.2      .2     -.6      .4     2.1     1.7 
          Blue collar........................  139.6   140.8   143.4    -1.6      .5     1.8    -1.9     -.7     2.7 
      Nondurables............................  134.5   137.6   138.2      .6      .7      .4     2.7     2.9     2.8 
                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                     
  Service producing(4).......................  135.3   139.6   140.5     1.1     1.3      .6     3.9     4.3     3.8 
      Excluding sales........................  136.1   140.0   140.6     1.2     1.1      .4     4.0     4.1     3.3 
    White collar.............................  136.6   141.2   142.2     1.3     1.4      .7     4.2     4.7     4.1 
      Excluding sales........................  138.1   142.2   142.8     1.3     1.1      .4     4.1     4.3     3.4 
    Blue collar..............................  130.9   134.3   134.8      .7      .8      .4     2.8     3.3     3.0 
    Service..................................  133.9   137.0   137.8      .9      .9      .6     4.1     3.2     2.9 
                                                                                                                     
    Transportation and public utilities(5)...  134.2   138.5   139.3     1.0     1.0      .6     2.9     4.2     3.8 
      Transportation(3)(5)...................  133.4   136.7   137.3     1.0     1.3      .4     3.3     3.5     2.9 
      Public utilities.......................  135.1   140.7   141.9     1.0      .7      .9     2.6     5.2     5.0 
        Communications.......................  134.0   140.5   141.7     1.7      .9      .9     2.2     6.6     5.7 
        Electric, gas, and sanitary services.  136.4   141.0   142.1      .3      .5      .8     3.0     3.7     4.2 
                                                                                                                     
    Wholesale and retail trade...............  132.9   137.6   138.2      .4     1.3      .4     3.3     3.9     4.0 
        Excluding sales......................  134.0   138.1   138.8      .8     1.3      .5     3.9     3.8     3.6 
      Wholesale trade(3).....................  135.1   140.8   142.8      .4     1.6     1.4     3.2     4.6     5.7 
        Excluding sales......................  135.4   140.0   141.2     0.7     1.3     0.9     3.4     4.1     4.3 
      Retail trade...........................  131.7   135.9   135.6      .5     1.1     -.2     3.4     3.7     3.0 
        General merchandise stores(3)........  130.0   133.2   134.0     1.1      .2      .6     2.9     3.6     3.1 
        Food stores(3).......................  129.4   133.7   132.7     -.3      .6     -.7      .8     3.0     2.6 
                                                                                                                     
    Finance, insurance, and real estate(3)...  134.5   141.0   142.5     3.1     1.9     1.1     6.7     8.0     5.9 
        Excluding sales......................  137.6   143.2   143.3     3.1     1.3      .1     6.5     7.3     4.1 
      Banking, savings and loan, and other                                                                           
       credit agencies(3)....................  140.6   148.4   146.7     5.6     2.1    -1.1     9.8    11.5     4.3 
      Insurance(3)...........................  134.8   141.9   141.7     1.3     2.2     -.1     4.0     6.6     5.1 
        Excluding sales......................  138.6   141.6   142.5      .9      .5      .6     3.8     3.1     2.8 
                                                                                                                     
    Services.................................  138.5   141.8   142.7     1.1     1.1      .6     3.8     3.5     3.0 
      Business services(3)...................  138.6   143.5   145.9     1.7     2.0     1.7     5.2     5.3     5.3 
      Health services........................  138.1   139.0   139.0      .8      .2      .0     2.7     1.5      .7 
        Hospitals............................  136.5   139.1   139.9      .8      .7      .6     2.1     2.7     2.5 
        Nursing homes........................    -       -       -        .8     1.0      .6     2.6     3.3     3.2 
      Educational services...................  142.6   147.0   147.7      .7     2.2      .5     3.3     3.8     3.6 
        Colleges and universities............  143.7   147.8   148.5      .8     2.1      .5     3.3     3.7     3.3 
Industry-Continued                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                     
  Nonmanufacturing industries................  134.7   138.9   139.7     1.1     1.2     0.6     3.8     4.2     3.7 
    White collar.............................  136.5   141.1   142.0     1.2     1.4      .6     4.1     4.6     4.0 
      Excluding sales........................  137.9   142.0   142.7     1.2     1.1      .5     4.1     4.3     3.5 
    Blue collar..............................  130.1   133.4   134.0      .5      .8      .4     2.7     3.1     3.0 
    Service..................................  133.8   136.9   137.7      .8      .9      .6     4.0     3.2     2.9 
                                                                                                                     
             Occupational group                                                                                      
                                                                                                                     
  White collar...............................  136.7   141.1   142.0     1.1     1.2      .6     3.8     4.4     3.9 
      Excluding sales........................  137.4   141.3   141.9     1.1     1.0      .4     3.7     4.0     3.3 
    Professional specialty and technical.....  137.8   141.6   142.6      .8     1.1      .7     3.1     3.6     3.5 
    Executive, administrative, and managerial  137.4   141.9   141.8     1.6     1.4     -.1     4.6     5.0     3.2 
    Sales(3).................................  133.5   140.4   142.6     1.0     2.3     1.6     4.2     6.2     6.8 
    Administrative support, including                                                                                
     clerical................................  137.0   140.6   141.4      .8      .7      .6     3.4     3.5     3.2 
                                                                                                                     
  Blue collar................................  132.3   135.2   135.9      .5      .7      .5     2.6     2.7     2.7 
    Precision production, craft, and repair..  131.9   135.4   136.1      .2      .7      .5     2.2     2.8     3.2 
    Machine operators, assemblers, and                                                                               
     inspectors..............................  133.0   135.7   136.8      .6      .7      .8     2.7     2.6     2.9 
    Transportation and material moving.......  128.9   130.7   130.7      .7      .6      .0     3.0     2.1     1.4 
    Handlers, equipment cleaners, helpers,                                                                           
     and laborers............................  135.8   138.5   139.2     1.2      .7      .5     3.4     3.2     2.5 
                                                                                                                     
  Service....................................  134.1   137.3   138.0      .8     1.0      .5     4.0     3.2     2.9 
                                                                                                                     
  Production and nonsupervisory                                                                                      
   occupations(6)............................  134.2   138.0   139.0      .8     1.0      .7     3.2     3.6     3.6 

  1 Includes wages, salaries, and employer costs for employee benefits.
  2 Includes mining, construction, and manufacturing.
  3 Average standard errors (SE) for the series exceed 0.3 percent for 3-month changes and 0.6 percent for 12-month
changes for the five years ending December 1996. To assist users in ascertaining the reliability of the series, SEs
for estimates in this news release (excluding seasonally adjusted series) will be available on the Internet site
(http://stats.bls.gov/ecthome.htm).  All series will continue to be published until further notice.
  4 Includes transportation, communication, and public utilities; wholesale and retail trade; finance, insurance, and
real estate; and service industries.
  5 Estimates for transportation and public utilities reflect the changes in SIC coding.  See Explanatory Notes for
further information.
  6 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.



Table 4.  Employment Cost Index for total compensation(1) for private industry workers, by bargaining status, region,
and area

(Not seasonally adjusted data)
                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                     
                                              Indexes (June 1989=100)               Percent changes for-             
                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                     
     Bargaining status, region, and area                                  3 months ended-         12 months ended-   
                                                Dec.    Sep.    Dec.                                                 
                                                1997    1998    1998                                                 
                                                                        Dec.    Sep.    Dec.    Dec.    Sep.    Dec. 
                                                                        1997    1998    1998    1997    1998    1998 
                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                     
              Bargaining status                                                                                      
                                                                                                                     
Union........................................  133.5   136.8   137.5     0.2     1.1     0.5     2.1     2.7     3.0 
    Blue-collar occupations..................  131.6   134.6   135.3      .3     1.0      .5     2.1     2.6     2.8 
                                                                                                                     
  Goods-producing industries(2)..............  132.5   135.6   136.5      .2     1.0      .7     2.1     2.5     3.0 
  Service-producing industries(3)............  134.5   138.0   138.5      .4     1.3      .4     2.1     3.0     3.0 
                                                                                                                     
  Manufacturing..............................  133.3   136.0   136.9      .2     1.0      .7     2.1     2.3     2.7 
    Blue-collar occupations..................  133.0   135.5   136.4      .3     1.0      .7     2.2     2.2     2.6 
  Nonmanufacturing...........................  133.2   136.9   137.4      .2     1.2      .4     2.1     3.0     3.2 
                                                                                                                     
Nonunion.....................................  135.3   139.3   140.1     1.0     1.1      .6     3.8     4.0     3.5 
    Blue-collar occupations..................  132.6   135.5   136.3      .6      .6      .6     2.9     2.8     2.8 
                                                                                                                     
  Goods-producing industries(2)..............  134.7   137.7   138.3      .5      .6      .4     2.6     2.8     2.7 
  Service-producing industries(3)............  135.3   139.7   140.6     1.2     1.2      .6     4.2     4.5     3.9 
                                                                                                                     
  Manufacturing..............................  135.9   138.9   139.4      .6      .7      .4     2.6     2.8     2.6 
    Blue-collar occupations..................  134.8   137.4   138.3      .4      .5      .7     2.6     2.4     2.6 
  Nonmanufacturing...........................  134.9   139.1   140.0     1.1     1.2      .6     4.1     4.3     3.8 
                                                                                                                     
                  Region(4)                                                                                          
                                                                                                                     
Northeast....................................  135.0   138.7   139.5      .7     1.2      .6     3.0     3.5     3.3 
South........................................  134.6   137.6   138.1     1.6      .9      .4     3.8     3.8     2.6 
Midwest......................................  136.9   140.9   141.4      .5      .9      .4     3.6     3.5     3.3 
West.........................................  133.4   138.5   140.0      .7     1.4     1.1     3.5     4.5     4.9 
                                                                                                                     
                    Area                                                                                             
                                                                                                                     
Metropolitan.................................  135.1   139.1   139.8      .9     1.2      .5     3.4     3.9     3.5 
Other........................................  135.3   138.2   139.4     1.1      .8      .9     3.9     3.3     3.0 

  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.



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)
                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                     
                                              Indexes (June 1989=100)               Percent changes for-             
                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                     
       Industry and occupational group                                    3 months ended-         12 months ended-   
                                                Dec.    Sep.    Dec.                                                 
                                                1997    1998    1998                                                 
                                                                        Dec.    Sep.    Dec.    Dec.    Sep.    Dec. 
                                                                        1997    1998    1998    1997    1998    1998 
                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                     
Civilian workers.............................  132.8   136.8   137.7     0.9     1.3     0.7     3.8     4.0     3.7 
    Excluding sales occupations..............  132.8   136.6   137.3      .8     1.3      .5     3.7     3.7     3.4 
                                                                                                                     
                  Industry                                                                                           
                                                                                                                     
  Goods producing(1).........................  130.6   134.4   135.2      .5      .8      .6     3.0     3.5     3.5 
    Manufacturing............................  132.2   136.0   136.8      .7     1.0      .6     3.0     3.6     3.5 
  Service producing(2).......................  133.6   137.8   138.7     1.1     1.5      .7     4.0     4.2     3.8 
    Services.................................  136.0   139.6   140.5      .9     1.5      .6     3.7     3.6     3.3 
      Health services........................  135.4   137.6   137.6      .8      .8      .0     3.0     2.5     1.6 
        Hospitals............................  133.6   136.4   137.1      .8     1.0      .5     2.4     2.9     2.6 
      Educational services...................  135.9   139.1   140.0      .4     1.9      .6     2.7     2.8     3.0 
    Public administration(3).................  131.4   134.8   135.9      .8     1.2      .8     2.9     3.5     3.4 
                                                                                                                     
  Nonmanufacturing...........................  132.8   137.0   137.8     1.0     1.4      .6     3.9     4.2     3.8 
                                                                                                                     
             Occupational group                                                                                      
                                                                                                                     
  White collar...............................  134.3   138.8   139.7     1.0     1.5      .6     3.9     4.4     4.0 
      Excluding sales........................  134.8   138.8   139.5     1.0     1.3      .5     3.8     4.0     3.5 
    Professional specialty and technical.....  135.0   138.5   139.4      .7     1.4      .6     3.3     3.4     3.3 
    Executive, administrative, and managerial  135.6   140.5   140.3     1.6     1.6     -.1     4.8     5.2     3.5 
    Administrative support, including                                                                                
     clerical................................  133.7   137.5   138.6      .8     1.0      .8     3.6     3.6     3.7 
  Blue collar................................  129.3   132.6   133.3      .7      .9      .5     3.1     3.3     3.1 
  Service....................................  132.6   136.1   137.0      .8     1.2      .7     3.9     3.5     3.3 
                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                     
State and local government...................  134.4   137.6   138.5      .6     1.6      .7     2.7     3.0     3.1 
                                                                                                                     
                  Industry                                                                                           
                                                                                                                     
    Services.................................  135.3   138.4   139.2      .4     1.8      .6     2.6     2.7     2.9 
        Excluding schools(4)(5)..............  134.4   137.8   138.2      .8     1.7      .3     3.0     3.4     2.8 
      Health services........................  135.3   138.7   139.2     1.0     1.6      .4     3.0     3.6     2.9 
        Hospitals............................  135.2   138.6   139.1     1.1     1.5      .4     3.0     3.7     2.9 
      Educational services...................  135.3   138.4   139.3      .4     1.9      .7     2.5     2.7     3.0 
        Schools..............................  135.5   138.5   139.5      .4     1.8      .7     2.5     2.7     3.0 
          Elementary and secondary...........  135.7   138.7   139.3      .3     1.9      .4     2.5     2.5     2.7 
          Colleges and universities..........  134.6   137.7   139.6      .7     1.6     1.4     2.6     3.1     3.7 
    Public administration(3).................  131.4   134.8   135.9     0.8     1.2     0.8     2.9     3.5     3.4 
                                                                                                                     
             Occupational group                                                                                      
                                                                                                                     
  White collar...............................  134.5   137.6   138.5      .6     1.8      .7     2.6     2.9     3.0 
    Professional specialty and technical.....  135.1   137.9   138.7      .5     1.7      .6     2.6     2.6     2.7 
    Executive, administrative, and managerial  134.1   138.0   139.3      .8     1.8      .9     3.0     3.7     3.9 
    Administrative support, including                                                                                
     clerical................................  132.3   135.4   136.5      .7     1.6      .8     2.6     3.0     3.2 
  Blue collar................................  132.3   135.1   136.0      .8     1.2      .7     2.7     3.0     2.8 
  Service....................................  135.2   139.2   140.0      .7     1.5      .6     3.2     3.7     3.6 

  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, SIC's 91 through 96.
  4 Formerly called hospitals and other services.
  5 Average standard errors (SE) for the series exceed 0.3 percent for 3-month changes and 0.6 percent for 12-month
changes for the five years ending December 1996. To assist users in ascertaining the reliability of the series, SEs
for estimates in this news release (excluding seasonally adjusted series) will be available on the Internet site
(http://stats.bls.gov/ecthome.htm).  All series will continue to be published until further notice.



Table 6.  Employment Cost Index for wages and salaries for private industry workers by industry and occupational
group

(Not seasonally adjusted data)
                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                     
                                              Indexes (June 1989=100)               Percent changes for-             
                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                     
       Industry and occupational group                                    3 months ended-         12 months ended-   
                                                Dec.    Sep.    Dec.                                                 
                                                1997    1998    1998                                                 
                                                                        Dec.    Sep.    Dec.    Dec.    Sep.    Dec. 
                                                                        1997    1998    1998    1997    1998    1998 
                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                     
Private industry workers.....................  132.3   136.6   137.4     1.0     1.3     0.6     3.9     4.3     3.9 
    Excluding sales occupations..............  132.4   136.3   136.9      .9     1.1      .4     3.8     3.9     3.4 
                                                                                                                     
                  Industry                                                                                           
                                                                                                                     
  Goods producing(1).........................  130.6   134.3   135.2      .5      .8      .7     3.0     3.4     3.5 
      Excluding sales........................  130.0   133.6   134.4      .5      .8      .6     2.9     3.3     3.4 
    White collar.............................  132.9   137.4   138.2      .5      .8      .6     2.9     3.9     4.0 
      Excluding sales........................  131.6   135.7   136.4      .5      .8      .5     2.7     3.7     3.6 
    Blue collar..............................  129.2   132.3   133.3      .6      .8      .8     3.1     3.0     3.2 
                                                                                                                     
    Construction(2)..........................  124.9   128.5   129.3      .2      .3      .6     3.4     3.0     3.5 
                                                                                                                     
    Manufacturing............................  132.2   136.0   136.8      .7     1.0      .6     3.0     3.6     3.5 
      White collar...........................  133.6   138.3   139.0      .6     1.1      .5     2.7     4.1     4.0 
        Excluding sales......................  132.2   136.3   137.1      .7     1.0      .6     2.6     3.8     3.7 
      Blue collar............................  131.2   134.3   135.3      .8      .9      .7     3.1     3.1     3.1 
      Durables...............................  131.9   135.9   136.9      .5     1.0      .7     2.7     3.6     3.8 
        Aircraft manufacturing (SIC 3721)....  134.0   137.2   138.3      .5      .2      .8     2.4     2.9     3.2 
          White collar.......................  129.8   133.9   134.5      .4      .1      .4     2.6     3.6     3.6 
          Blue collar........................  139.6   141.0   143.2      .9      .4     1.6     1.8     1.9     2.6 
      Nondurables............................  132.6   136.0   136.8      .9      .8      .6     3.2     3.5     3.2 
                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                     
  Service producing(3).......................  133.1   137.6   138.4     1.2     1.5      .6     4.4     4.6     4.0 
      Excluding sales........................  133.9   137.9   138.5     1.2     1.2      .4     4.4     4.2     3.4 
    White collar.............................  134.3   139.2   140.1     1.3     1.6      .6     4.5     5.0     4.3 
      Excluding sales........................  135.9   140.2   140.7     1.3     1.3      .4     4.6     4.5     3.5 
    Blue collar..............................  128.9   132.4   132.9      .8     1.0      .4     3.3     3.5     3.1 
    Service..................................  131.0   134.2   135.2      .9      .9      .7     4.3     3.4     3.2 
                                                                                                                     
    Transportation and public utilities(4)...  131.3   134.3   135.1      .9     1.1      .6     3.4     3.2     2.9 
      Transportation(2)(4)...................  129.5   132.4   132.9      .8     1.5      .4     3.8     3.0     2.6 
      Public utilities.......................  133.5   136.5   137.8     1.1      .6     1.0     2.9     3.4     3.2 
        Communications.......................  134.0   136.7   138.0     1.7      .7     1.0     2.8     3.7     3.0 
        Electric, gas, and sanitary services.  132.9   136.3   137.4      .5      .5      .8     3.0     3.1     3.4 
                                                                                                                     
    Wholesale and retail trade...............  131.6   136.6   137.0      .5     1.5      .3     3.6     4.4     4.1 
        Excluding sales......................  133.2   137.6   138.2      .8     1.5      .4     4.3     4.1     3.8 
      Wholesale trade(2).....................  133.6   139.3   141.3      .5     1.6     1.4     3.1     4.7     5.8 
        Excluding sales......................  135.0   139.6   140.8     0.8     1.3     0.9     4.0     4.3     4.3 
      Retail trade...........................  130.6   135.2   134.8      .5     1.4     -.3     3.8     4.1     3.2 
        General merchandise stores(2)........  128.4   132.2   133.0     1.3      .5      .6     3.0     4.3     3.6 
        Food stores(2).......................  127.0   131.7   130.5      .2      .9     -.9     1.8     3.9     2.8 
                                                                                                                     
    Finance, insurance, and real estate(2)...  130.6   138.1   139.8     3.3     2.4     1.2     6.9     9.3     7.0 
        Excluding sales......................  133.6   139.7   139.6     3.3     1.6     -.1     6.6     8.0     4.5 
      Banking, savings and loan, and other                                                                           
       credit agencies(2)....................  138.3   147.0   144.4     7.3     2.7    -1.8    11.7    14.0     4.4 
      Insurance(2)...........................  130.2   138.7   138.5     1.2     2.9     -.1     3.3     7.8     6.4 
        Excluding sales......................  133.7   136.6   137.9      .6      .7     1.0     3.1     2.8     3.1 
                                                                                                                     
    Services.................................  136.2   140.0   140.8     1.1     1.2      .6     4.4     3.9     3.4 
      Business services(2)...................  137.3   141.8   144.1     1.8     1.9     1.6     5.5     5.1     5.0 
      Health services........................  135.4   137.5   137.4      .8      .7     -.1     3.0     2.4     1.5 
        Hospitals............................  133.2   135.8   136.5      .8      .8      .5     2.2     2.7     2.5 
        Nursing homes........................    -       -       -        .8     1.0      .5     3.1     3.9     3.7 
      Educational services...................  138.4   142.8   143.5      .4     2.3      .5     3.4     3.6     3.7 
        Colleges and universities............  138.7   142.8   143.6      .7     2.2      .6     3.7     3.6     3.5 
Industry-Continued                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                     
  Nonmanufacturing industries................  132.1   136.5   137.4     1.1     1.3     0.7     4.2     4.4     4.0 
    White collar.............................  134.1   138.9   139.8     1.3     1.5      .6     4.5     4.9     4.3 
      Excluding sales........................  135.5   139.8   140.3     1.3     1.2      .4     4.6     4.5     3.5 
    Blue collar..............................  127.1   130.5   131.1      .6      .8      .5     3.2     3.2     3.1 
    Service..................................  130.9   134.1   135.1      .9      .9      .7     4.3     3.4     3.2 
                                                                                                                     
             Occupational group                                                                                      
                                                                                                                     
  White collar...............................  134.2   139.0   139.9     1.1     1.5      .6     4.3     4.7     4.2 
      Excluding sales........................  134.8   139.1   139.7     1.0     1.2      .4     4.2     4.3     3.6 
    Professional specialty and technical.....  134.8   138.7   139.7      .8     1.2      .7     3.8     3.7     3.6 
    Executive, administrative, and managerial  135.8   140.9   140.5     1.6     1.6     -.3     5.0     5.5     3.5 
    Sales(2).................................  131.4   138.8   141.3     1.2     2.7     1.8     4.4     6.9     7.5 
    Administrative support, including                                                                                
     clerical................................  133.9   137.9   138.9      .8      .9      .7     3.6     3.8     3.7 
                                                                                                                     
  Blue collar................................  129.1   132.4   133.2      .6      .8      .6     3.2     3.2     3.2 
    Precision production, craft, and repair..  128.7   132.3   133.0      .4      .8      .5     2.9     3.2     3.3 
    Machine operators, assemblers, and                                                                               
     inspectors..............................  130.6   133.8   134.9      .8      .8      .8     3.3     3.3     3.3 
    Transportation and material moving.......  125.1   127.6   127.8      .8      .9      .2     3.3     2.8     2.2 
    Handlers, equipment cleaners, helpers,                                                                           
     and laborers............................  131.8   135.1   135.8     1.2     1.0      .5     3.7     3.8     3.0 
                                                                                                                     
  Service....................................  131.1   134.4   135.3      .9     1.1      .7     4.3     3.5     3.2 
                                                                                                                     
  Production and nonsupervisory                                                                                      
   occupations(5)............................  131.2   135.2   136.4      .8     1.2      .9     3.7     3.9     4.0 

  1 Includes mining, construction, and manufacturing.
  2 Average standard errors (SE) for the series exceed 0.3 percent for 3-month changes and 0.6 percent for 12-month
changes for the five years ending December 1996. To assist users in ascertaining the reliability of the series, SEs
for estimates in this news release (excluding seasonally adjusted series) will be available on the Internet site
(http://stats.bls.gov/ecthome.htm).  All series will continue to be published until further notice.
  3 Includes transportation, communication, and public utilities; wholesale and retail trade; finance, insurance, and
real estate; and service industries.
  4 Estimates for transportation and public utilities reflect the changes in SIC coding.  See Explanatory Notes for
further information.
  5 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.



Table 7.  Employment Cost Index for wages and salaries for private industry workers by bargaining status, region, and
area

(Not seasonally adjusted data)
                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                     
                                              Indexes (June 1989=100)               Percent changes for-             
                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                     
     Bargaining status, region, and area                                  3 months ended-         12 months ended-   
                                                Dec.    Sep.    Dec.                                                 
                                                1997    1998    1998                                                 
                                                                        Dec.    Sep.    Dec.    Dec.    Sep.    Dec. 
                                                                        1997    1998    1998    1997    1998    1998 
                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                     
              Bargaining status                                                                                      
                                                                                                                     
Union........................................  128.9   132.4   133.1     0.5     1.3     0.5     2.8     3.2     3.3 
    Blue-collar occupations..................  126.7   129.9   130.6      .6     1.1      .5     2.7     3.1     3.1 
                                                                                                                     
  Goods-producing industries(1)..............  127.1   131.0   131.7      .4     1.2      .5     2.8     3.5     3.6 
  Service-producing industries(2)............  131.2   134.1   134.8      .6     1.4      .5     2.8     2.8     2.7 
                                                                                                                     
  Manufacturing..............................  128.6   132.2   133.0      .6     1.4      .6     2.7     3.4     3.4 
    Blue-collar occupations..................  128.4   131.4   132.4      .6     1.1      .8     2.7     3.0     3.1 
  Nonmanufacturing...........................  129.1   132.4   133.1      .4     1.2      .5     2.9     3.0     3.1 
                                                                                                                     
Nonunion.....................................  133.0   137.4   138.3     1.1     1.3      .7     4.2     4.4     4.0 
    Blue-collar occupations..................  130.6   134.0   134.8      .7      .8      .6     3.4     3.3     3.2 
                                                                                                                     
  Goods-producing industries(1)..............  132.0   135.7   136.5      .6      .7      .6     3.1     3.4     3.4 
  Service-producing industries(2)............  133.2   137.9   138.8     1.2     1.5      .7     4.5     4.8     4.2 
                                                                                                                     
  Manufacturing..............................  133.5   137.3   138.2      .7      .8      .7     3.0     3.5     3.5 
    Blue-collar occupations..................  133.0   136.2   137.2      .8      .8      .7     3.3     3.2     3.2 
  Nonmanufacturing...........................  132.6   137.1   138.0     1.1     1.3      .7     4.4     4.6     4.1 
                                                                                                                     
                  Region(3)                                                                                          
                                                                                                                     
Northeast....................................  131.6   135.4   136.4      .7     1.2      .7     3.1     3.6     3.6 
South........................................  133.0   136.5   136.7     1.8     1.2      .1     4.7     4.5     2.8 
Midwest......................................  133.0   137.5   138.0      .6     1.1      .4     4.2     4.0     3.8 
West.........................................  131.2   136.7   138.4      .8     1.6     1.2     3.7     5.0     5.5 
                                                                                                                     
                    Area                                                                                             
                                                                                                                     
Metropolitan.................................  132.3   136.9   137.7      .9     1.3      .6     3.8     4.4     4.1 
Other........................................  132.0   134.7   136.0     1.2     1.0     1.0     4.3     3.3     3.0 

  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.
  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.



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)
                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                     
                                              Indexes (June 1989=100)               Percent changes for-             
                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                     
      Industry, occupational group, and                                   3 months ended-         12 months ended-   
              bargaining status                 Dec.    Sep.    Dec.                                                 
                                                1997    1998    1998                                                 
                                                                        Dec.    Sep.    Dec.    Dec.    Sep.    Dec. 
                                                                        1997    1998    1998    1997    1998    1998 
                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                     
Civilian workers.............................  141.1   144.0   144.7     0.6     0.7     0.5     2.1     2.6     2.6 
 State and local government..................  138.6   142.1   142.7      .3     1.3      .4     1.3     2.8     3.0 
 Private industry............................  141.8   144.5   145.2      .7      .6      .5     2.3     2.6     2.4 
                                                                                                                     
                  Industry                                                                                           
                                                                                                                     
   Goods producing(1)........................  141.5   143.0   143.2      .0      .4      .1     1.3     1.1     1.2 
   Service producing.........................  141.4   144.9   145.7     1.1      .8      .6     2.9     3.6     3.0 
                                                                                                                     
   Manufacturing.............................  141.7   142.6   142.7      .2      .1      .1     1.4      .8      .7 
     Aircraft manufacturing (SIC 3721).......  143.0   143.8   142.6    -3.1      .5     -.8    -5.7    -2.6     -.3 
       White collar..........................  144.8   145.5   141.2    -1.4      .3    -3.0    -4.0     -.9    -2.5 
       Blue collar...........................  139.6   140.7   144.0    -5.8      .9     2.3    -8.3    -5.1     3.2 
   Nonmanufacturing..........................  141.5   145.0   145.8      .9      .8      .6     2.6     3.4     3.0 
                                                                                                                     
             Occupational group                                                                                      
                                                                                                                     
   White collar..............................  143.4   146.6   147.4     1.0      .7      .5     2.6     3.2     2.8 
   Blue collar...............................  139.0   141.0   141.6      .1      .4      .4     1.5     1.6     1.9 
   Service...................................  142.0   144.7   144.8      .4      .7      .1     3.3     2.3     2.0 
                                                                                                                     
              Bargaining status                                                                                      
                                                                                                                     
   Union.....................................  142.0   145.0   145.5     -.1      .8      .3      .9     2.0     2.5 
   Nonunion..................................  141.5   144.2   144.9      .9      .6      .5     2.7     2.9     2.4 

  1 Includes mining, construction, and manufacturing.                                     
                             EXPLANATORY NOTES
     
     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 lump-sum
 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, 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 economy and the public sector--excluding farms, households,
 and 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 18,000 occupations within about 4,400 sample establishments
 in private industry and approximately 4,100 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 sample establishments are classified in industry categories based
 on the 1987 Standard Industrial Classification (SIC), as defined by the
 U.S. Office of Management and Budget.  In 1996, some establishments in
 Motor freight transportation and warehousing (SIC 42), Transportation by
 air (SIC 45), and Transportation services (SIC 47) were reclassified into
 Air courier services (SIC 4513), which includes support establishments.
 While the establishments in question were engaged in the delivery of
 letters, parcels, and packages, they were operated by enterprises engaged
 in furnishing air delivery of individually addressed letters, parcels, and
 packages.  The ECI sample introduced these reclassifications with the June
 1998 reference period.
     
     Within an establishment, specific job categories are selected to
 represent broader occupational groups.  From June 1986 through December
 1994, the jobs were classified according to definitions used in the 1980
 Census.  Prior to June 1986, they were classified according to the 1970
 Census.  Differences between the two classification systems are slight, as
 indicated in the article "Introducing new weights for the Employment Cost
 Index," in the June 1985 issue of the Monthly Labor Review.  Beginning
 with March 1995, the jobs are classified according to the 1990 Census,
 which differs little from the 1980 Census.
     
     Fixed employment weights are used each quarter to calculate the most
 aggregate indexes--civilian, private, and state and local governments.
 These fixed weights are also used to derive all of the industry and
 occupation series indexes.  Beginning in March 1995, 1990 employment
 counts, primarily from the Bureau's Occupational Employment Statistics
 survey, were used.  A description of the reweighting is included in an
 article "Introducing 1990 Weights for the Employment Cost Index,"
 published in the June 1995 issue of Compensation and Working Conditions,
 and available upon request.  From June 1986 through December 1994,
 employment counts from the 1980 Census were used as weights.  Prior to
 June 1986, employment counts from the 1970 Census were used.
     
     For the series based on bargaining status, region, or 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 spot.  ECI series
 are seasonally adjusted using either direct or composite seasonally
 adjusted estimates.  Industry and occupational series, such as
 construction and service occupations, are adjusted directly.  More
 aggregate series, such as civilian or private industry workers, use
 composite estimates.  The composite estimates could be obtained by
 aggregating either the industry or the occupational components, and the
 results may differ depending on which method is used.  The aggregate
 seasonally adjusted ECI series are estimated by aggregating the component
 seasonally adjusted industry series, so they are not necessarily a
 weighted average of the component occupation series.  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 the
 newly estimated factors.  The new seasonally adjusted factors for 1999,
 and revised seasonally adjusted indexes for the past five years, will be
 available Tuesday, April 27, 1999 on the Internet at
 (http://stats.bls.gov/ecthome.htm) or upon request.  The factors are also
 published in the summer issue of Compensation and Working Conditions.
     
     The ECI sample is rotated over approximately five years; this makes it
 more representative and reduces respondent burden.  The sample is replaced
 on a cross-area, cross-industry basis.
     
     The costs per hour worked of compensation components, based on March
 1998 data from the ECI, are published in a separate news release titled
 "Employer Costs for Employee Compensation - March 1998," and in an annual
 bulletin, Employer Costs for Employee Compensation, 1986-97, (Bulletin
 2505).  A description of the cost levels data (ECEC) is provided in the
 article "Analyzing employers' costs for wages, salaries, and benefits" in
 the October 1987 issue of the Monthly Labor Review.  This article, along
 with other ECEC research articles, also appears in the annual bulletin.
 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 will usually differ from those in the ECI.
     
     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 each 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.  All 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.
 Currently, in the higher level aggregate series the standard errors for 3-
 month changes are generally 0.1 percent or less; for 12-month changes,
 standard errors are generally 0.25 percent or less.  Currently, in the
 lower level series, standard errors are generally 0.3 percent or less for
 3-month changes and 0.6 percent or less for 12-month changes.  Series
 found to have a higher average standard error for the five years ending
 December 1996 are footnoted in the tables.
     
     BLS is evaluating ECI publication standards as part of its overall
 quality improvement plan.  The first phase of this evaluation, a review of
 the statistical reliability of the ECI series, is complete.  To improve
 the quality of the ECI estimates, the sample size is being increased and
 other initiatives, such as revising collection procedures, are being
 explored.  All series will continue to be published until further notice,
 although, as indicated above, standard errors for some series are large.
 Standard errors for all estimates (excluding seasonally adjusted series)
 will now be available on the Internet site
 (http://stats.bls.gov/ecthome.htm) shortly after publication of the news
 release.
     
     When comparing data by bargaining status, it is important to note that
 differences may be due to factors other than bargaining 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.
     
     More detailed information on the ECI is available in several sources.
 These include an annual bulletin--Employment Cost Indexes and Levels, 1975-
 97, (Bulletin 2504), a chapter in the BLS Handbook of Methods (Bulletin
 2490), "National Compensation Measures," and several articles published in
 the Monthly Labor Review and Compensation and Working Conditions.  The
 annual bulletins are 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 202/606-6199 or sending email
 to (ocltinfo@bls.gov).  Current and historical data are available at the
 web site:  (http://stats.bls.gov/ecthome.htm).
     
     Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired
 individuals upon request.  Voice phone: 202/606-7828, Telecommunications
 Device for the Deaf (TDD) phone: 202/606-5897, TDD Message Referral Phone
 Number:  1-800/326-2577.