Technical Contact:                          USDL:  03-619
      (202) 691-6199  ocltinfo@bls.gov
 Media Contact:                              TRANSMISSION OF MATERIAL
      (202) 691-5902  hoyle_k@bls.gov        IN THIS RELEASE IS EMBARGOED
 Internet address:                           UNTIL 8:30 A.M. (EST),
      http://www.bls.gov/ncs/ect/home.htm    THURSDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2003
                                     
 
                   EMPLOYMENT COST INDEX-SEPTEMBER 2003
 
     Total compensation costs for civilian workers rose 1.0 percent from
 June to September 2003, seasonally adjusted, virtually unchanged from the
 0.9 percent gain from March to June, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the
 U.S. Department of Labor reported today.  Benefit costs increased 1.5
 percent and continued to outpace the gain in wages and salaries for
 civilian workers in September, 0.7 percent.  The Employment Cost Index
 (ECI), a component of the National Compensation Survey, measures quarterly
 changes in compensation costs, which include wages, salaries, and employer
 costs for employee benefits for nonfarm private and State and local
 government workers.
 
     Over 40 percent of the increase in compensation costs was attributable
 to changes in benefit costs during the September quarter.  Among private
 industry workers, benefit costs accounted for over one-third of the gain
 in compensation during the June to September period.  Among State and
 local government workers, benefit costs accounted for over 55 percent of
 compensation gains during the quarter, with health insurance and defined
 benefit retirement costs accounting for nearly half of the rise in
 compensation costs in State and local government.
 
 Quarterly changes, seasonally adjusted
 
     Compensation costs for private sector workers rose 1.0 percent from
 June to September, compared with a gain of 0.8 percent in the prior
 quarter.  For State and local government workers, the increase in
 compensation costs moderated to 0.7 percent in September, compared with a
 gain of 1.0 percent for the quarter ended in June.  Gains in private
 sector compensation costs were led by increases in retail trade and white-
 collar workers.  Private sector compensation gains were dampened by
 transportation and public utilities and service workers.  (See tables A
 and 1.)
 
     Benefit costs advanced 1.5 percent for civilian workers (nonfarm
 private industry and State and local government) in the September 2003
 quarter, following a gain of 1.4 percent in the June quarter.  In the
 private sector, benefit costs rose 1.4 percent for the September quarter,
 following a 1.3 percent gain in the previous quarter.  By contrast, the
 benefit increase for State and local governments jumped to 2.0 percent in
 the September quarter, following a more modest 1.3 percent increase in
 June 2003.
 
     While gains in wages and salaries showed little change from the prior
 quarter for civilian workers, increasing 0.7 percent during the September
 quarter following a gain of 0.6 percent in June, the gains for private
 industry and State and local government workers varied widely during the
 quarter.  After advancing 0.8 percent during the March to June quarter,
 the gain in State and local government wages and salaries slowed to 0.1
 percent during the June to September period.  In contrast, wages and salaries
 for private industry workers rose 0.9 percent for the September quarter,
 following a more modest 0.6 percent gain during the prior quarter.  Private
 sector wage gains were led by service-producing industries, especially retail
 trade.  Increases in wages and salaries in the private sector were slowed by
 nondurable manufacturing and transportation and public utilities.
 
 Table A.  3-month percent changes in Employment Cost Index, seasonally
 adjusted
                          Dec.  Mar.  June  Sep.  Dec.  Mar.   June  Sep.
 Compensation Component   2001  2002  2002  2002  2002  2003   2003  2003
         Civilian workers                                                                                                                                                                                        
 Compensation costs       1.0    0.9   1.0   0.8   0.7   1.3    0.9   1.0
   Wages and salaries     0.9    0.8   0.9   0.6   0.5   1.0    0.6   0.7
   Benefit costs          1.2    1.0   1.3   1.2   1.3   2.2    1.4   1.5
         Private industry                                                                                                                                                                                        
 Compensation costs       1.1    0.9   1.1   0.6   0.7   1.4    0.8   1.0
   Wages and salaries     0.9    0.9   0.9   0.4   0.5   1.0    0.6   0.9
   Benefit costs          1.3    1.1   1.3   1.1   1.2   2.4    1.3   1.4
         State and local government                                                                                                                                                                              
 Compensation costs       0.7    0.8   0.9   1.3   1.0   0.9    1.0   0.7
   Wages and salaries     0.6    0.8   0.8   0.8   0.7   0.7    0.8   0.1
   Benefit costs          0.9    1.0   1.1   2.2   1.7   1.5    1.3   2.0
 
 Over-the-year changes, not seasonally adjusted
 
     Annual compensation costs for civilian workers (not seasonally
 adjusted) increased 3.9 percent for the year ended September 2003,
 compared with a 3.7 percent over-the-year increase for September 2002.
 Compensation costs in private industry rose 4.0 percent in the year ended
 September 2003, compared with a more modest increase of 3.7 percent in
 September 2002.  State and local government compensation costs increased
 3.6 percent for the year ended September 2003, compared to an over-the-
 year gain of 3.8 percent in September 2002.  (See tables B, 2, and 3.)
 
     Although over-the-year compensation gains remained relatively constant
 for the years ended September 2002 and September 2003, the components of
 compensation continued to show significant differences.  While increases
 in wages and salaries slowed, benefit costs rose sharply during the year
 ended September 2003.  For private industry workers, wages and salaries
 rose 3.0 percent in the year ended September 2003, compared with a gain of
 6.5 percent for benefits.  Wages and salaries rose a modest 2.3 percent
 for State and local government workers, while benefits increased 6.7
 percent for the year ending September 2003.  (See tables B, 5, 6, and 8.)
 
 Table B. 12-month percent changes in Employment Cost Index, not seasonally
 adjusted
                         Sep.  Sep.  Sep.  Sep.  Sep.  Sep.
 Compensation Component  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003
         Civilian workers
 Compensation costs      3.7    3.1   4.3   4.1   3.7   3.9
   Wages and salaries    4.0    3.3   4.0   3.6   3.2   2.9
   Benefit costs         2.6    2.7   5.3   5.1   4.9   6.5
         Private industry
 Compensation costs      3.8    3.1   4.6   4.0   3.7   4.0
   Wages and salaries    4.3    3.2   4.1   3.6   3.2   3.0
   Benefit costs         2.6    2.8   6.0   4.9   4.8   6.5
         State and local government
 Compensation costs      3.0    2.9   3.3   4.4   3.8   3.6
   Wages and salaries    3.0    3.3   3.5   3.9   3.1   2.3
   Benefit costs         2.8    2.0   2.8   5.6   5.4   6.7
 
 
     Nonfarm private industry
 
     For the year ended September 2003, compensation costs in private
 industry increased 4.5 percent for goods-producing industries, higher than
 the 3.6 percent advance for the year ended September 2002.  Compensation
 costs for manufacturing advanced 4.7 percent in September 2003, after
 increasing 3.8 percent in September 2002.  Compensation costs for
 construction rose 3.8 percent in September 2003, compared with a 3.0
 percent rise in September 2002.  (See table 3.)
 
     The over-the-year increase in compensation for service-producing
 industries was 3.7 percent, the same as the gain for the year ended
 September 2002.  Among service-producing industries, the 12-month increase
 for finance, insurance, and real estate was 7.3 percent for the year ended
 in September 2003, led by a large increase in banking, savings and loan,
 and other credit agencies.  Compensation costs rose modestly in retail
 trade, increasing 2.5 percent in the year ended September 2003.
 
     Over-the-year compensation cost increases were 4.0 percent for white-
 collar occupations, 4.2 percent for blue-collar occupations, and 3.0
 percent for service occupations for the year ended September 2003.  Among
 white-collar occupational groups, compensation changes ranged from 3.5
 percent for professional specialty and technical employees and for sales
 workers to 4.8 percent for executive, administrative, and managerial
 employees.  Among blue-collar workers, compensation cost increases ranged
 from 3.8 percent for transportation and material moving workers to 4.6
 percent for machine operators, assemblers, and inspectors.  (See table 3.)
 
     Compensation costs for union workers advanced 4.8 percent over the
 year ended September 2003, greater than the 3.8 percent increase for
 nonunion workers.  Compensation costs among blue-collar union workers rose
 5.1 percent, higher than the gain of 3.6 percent for blue-collar nonunion
 workers.  In goods-producing industries, a 5.4 percent increase for union
 workers was greater than the 4.1 percent advance for nonunion workers.
 (See tables C and 4.)
 
     Wages and salaries for union workers rose a modest 2.6 percent for the
 12 months ended in September 2003.  This compares with an over-the-year
 increase of 3.1 percent for nonunion workers.  Benefit costs for union
 workers rose sharply, 8.5 percent, greater than the increase of 5.9
 percent for nonunion workers in September 2003.  (See tables C, 7, and 8.)
 
 Table C. 12-month percent changes in Employment Cost Index, not seasonally
 adjusted
                         Sep.  Sep.  Sep.  Sep.  Sep.  Sep.
 Compensation Component  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003
         Union workers
 Compensation costs      2.7    2.5   4.2   3.4   4.7   4.8
   Wages and salaries    3.2    2.5   3.2   3.6   4.3   2.6
   Benefit costs         2.0    2.3   6.1   2.9   5.5   8.5
      Nonunion workers
 Compensation costs      4.0    3.2   4.7   4.1   3.5   3.8
   Wages and salaries    4.4    3.3   4.3   3.6   3.1   3.1
   Benefit costs         2.9    3.0   5.9   5.4   4.6   5.9
 
     Among the four geographic regions, increases in compensation costs
 ranged from 2.7 percent in the South to 5.0 percent in the Midwest for the
 year ended in September 2003.  Compensation costs rose 4.0 percent in the
 Northeast and 4.6 percent in the West.  (See table 4.)
 
     State and local government
 
     Employer costs for wages and salaries among State and local government
 workers rose 2.3 percent for the year ended September 2003.  Wage and
 salary increases for State and local government workers from September
 1982 through September 2002 ranged from 2.7 in September 1992 and
 September 1997 to 8.2 percent in September 1982.  Benefit costs rose 6.7
 percent for the year ended September 2003.  Benefit increases from
 September 1992 through September 2002 ranged from 1.5 percent in September 1997
 to 5.6 percent in September 2001.
 
     For the year ended September 2003, compensation costs increased 3.2
 percent for educational services, compared with 3.3 percent for the year
 ended September 2002.  Among educational services, over-the-year gains
 were 3.4 percent for elementary and secondary schools and 2.7 percent for
 colleges and universities.  Among occupational groups, compensation costs
 of service workers rose 4.1 percent for the year ended September 2003,
 compared with gains of 3.5 percent for white-collar workers and 3.3
 percent for blue-collar workers.  (See tables B, 5, and 8.)
 
 __________________________________________________________________________
 
                                  NOTES:
 
     The ECI for December 2003 is scheduled to be released Thursday,
 January 29, 2004, at 8:30 a.m. (EST).
 
     Supplemental data from the ECI, providing 12-month percent changes in
 employer costs for health insurance in private industry from June 1982 to
 September 2003, will be available shortly after publication of this news
 release on the Internet site http://www.bls.gov/ect/home.htm, by e-mail
 request ocltinfo@bls.gov, or by telephone (202) 691-6199.
 
     The costs per hour worked of compensation components, based on data
 from the ECI, were published on August 26, 2003, in a news release titled
 "Employer Costs for Employee Compensation-June 2003."
 
     ECI data are available on the Compensation Cost Trends page at
 http://www.bls.gov/ncs/ect/home.htm.  To access data using Anonymous FTP,
 use the Internet address ftp://ftp.bls.gov.
 
     For technical assistance in using the BLS Internet site, send e-mail
 to webmaster@bls.gov.  For ECI data requests, send e-mail to
 ocltinfo@bls.gov.
 
     The ECI news release is available through an e-mail subscription
 service.  See the subscription link on http://www.bls.gov/ncs/ect/home.htm
 or http://www.bls.gov/bls/newsrels.htm.
 
     News releases and other information are available from the BLS fax-on-
 demand service.  To request a document fax, call (202) 691-6325.  To
 request 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                                                                                      
                                                                                                                           
                                              Jun.    Sep.    Dec.    Mar.    Jun.    Sep.    Dec.    Mar.    Jun.    Sep. 
                                              2003    2003    2001    2002    2002    2002    2002    2003    2003    2003 
                                                                                                                           
                                                                                                                           
            TOTAL COMPENSATION                                                                                             
                                                                                                                           
Civilian workers...........................  165.9   167.5     1.0     0.9     1.0     0.8     0.7     1.3     0.9     1.0 
 State and local government................  164.2   165.3      .7      .8      .9     1.3     1.0      .9     1.0      .7 
 Private industry..........................  166.3   168.0     1.1      .9     1.1      .6      .7     1.4      .8     1.0 
                                                                                                                           
                 Industry                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                           
   Goods producing(2)......................  164.7   166.2      .9     1.0     1.0      .8     1.0     1.6     1.0      .9 
     Construction..........................  161.0   162.3      .9      .7      .6      .8     1.0      .8     1.1      .8 
     Manufacturing.........................  165.1   166.5     1.0     1.0     1.0      .8     1.1     1.8      .9      .8 
       Durables............................  165.3   166.7      .9      .8      .8      .6     1.1     2.2      .6      .8 
       Nondurables.........................  164.8   166.1     1.1     1.2     1.2     1.2     1.0     1.1     1.4      .8 
                                                                                                                           
   Service producing(3)....................  167.0   168.8     1.1      .9     1.1      .6      .6     1.2      .8     1.1 
     Transportation and public utilities...  165.3   166.3     1.6     1.0     1.0     1.1      .9      .7     1.3      .6 
     Wholesale trade.......................  170.7   172.0      .7     1.6     2.2      .1      .7     1.7      .5      .8 
     Retail trade..........................  157.1   159.8     2.1     -.3     1.3      .4      .4     -.1      .4     1.7 
     Finance, insurance, and real estate(4)  178.3   180.2      .2     2.4     1.3      .4      .3     4.9      .9     1.1 
     Services..............................  168.4   170.2      .9      .9      .7      .6      .6      .8      .8     1.1 
                                                                                                                           
   Nonmanufacturing........................  166.2   168.0     1.2      .8     1.1      .6      .6     1.2      .8     1.1 
                                                                                                                           
            Occupational group                                                                                             
                                                                                                                           
   White collar............................  169.1   171.1     1.2      .8     1.1      .6      .7     1.4      .7     1.2 
   Blue collar.............................  161.2   162.7      .9      .9      .8      .8      .9     1.3      .9      .9 
   Service.................................  162.6   163.8     1.4     1.0      .7     1.0      .6     1.2      .7      .7 
                                                                                                                           
                                                                                                                           
                                                                                                                           
            WAGES AND SALARIES                                                                                             
                                                                                                                           
Civilian workers...........................  160.3   161.5      .9      .8      .9      .6      .5     1.0      .6      .7 
 State and local government................  160.6   160.7      .6      .8      .8      .8      .7      .7      .8      .1 
 Private industry..........................  160.3   161.7      .9      .9      .9      .4      .5     1.0      .6      .9 
                                                                                                                           
                 Industry                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                           
   Goods producing(2)(4)...................  157.4   158.3      .7      .8      .9      .5      .7      .8      .7      .6 
     Construction..........................  152.2   153.6      .9      .5      .6      .7      .9      .3     1.0      .9 
     Manufacturing(4)......................  159.0   159.7      .7      .9      .9      .6      .7     1.0      .6      .4 
       Durables(4).........................  159.7   160.6      .7      .9      .9      .5      .8     1.0      .6      .6 
       Nondurables.........................  157.7   158.3      .8      .8      .9      .9      .8      .5      .8      .4 
                                                                                                                           
   Service producing(3)....................  161.5   163.2     1.0     0.9     0.9     0.5     0.4     1.1     0.6     1.1 
     Transportation and public utilities(4)  155.6   156.0     1.7      .9     1.1      .9      .5      .5      .5      .3 
     Wholesale trade.......................  163.7   165.0      .5     1.7     1.7      .1      .4     1.6     -.1      .8 
     Retail trade..........................  153.5   156.2     1.7     -.4     1.1      .3      .3     -.3      .4     1.8 
     Finance, insurance, and real estate(4)  172.4   174.1      .1     2.8     1.1      .2      .1     5.2      .8     1.0 
     Services..............................  164.1   165.7      .9      .8      .6      .6      .4      .6      .8     1.0 
                                                                                                                           
   Nonmanufacturing........................  160.3   162.0     1.1      .8      .8      .5      .4     1.0      .6     1.1 
WAGES AND SALARIES-Continued                                                                                               
                                                                                                                           
            Occupational group                                                                                             
                                                                                                                           
   White collar............................  163.5   165.2     1.1     0.8     0.9     0.5     0.5     1.2     0.6     1.0 
   Blue collar(4)..........................  154.6   155.6      .5      .9      .9      .5      .5      .8      .7      .6 
   Service(4)..............................  156.1   157.1     1.3      .9      .5      .7      .4      .6      .4      .6 
                                                                                                                           
                                                                                                                           
                                                                                                                           
               BENEFIT COSTS                                                                                               
                                                                                                                           
Civilian workers...........................  179.6   182.3     1.2     1.0     1.3     1.2     1.3     2.2     1.4     1.5 
 State and local government................  172.7   176.2      .9     1.0     1.1     2.2     1.7     1.5     1.3     2.0 
 Private industry..........................  181.3   183.8     1.3     1.1     1.3     1.1     1.2     2.4     1.3     1.4 
                                                                                                                           
                 Industry                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                           
   Goods producing(2)......................  179.9   182.6     1.4     1.2     1.2     1.2     1.5     3.4     1.4     1.5 
     Manufacturing.........................  178.6   181.5     1.3     1.4     1.2     1.3     1.4     4.0     1.3     1.6 
                                                                                                                           
   Service producing(3)....................  182.0   184.5     1.3      .9     1.5     1.0     1.0     1.8     1.3     1.4 
                                                                                                                           
   Nonmanufacturing........................  182.5   184.9     1.3     1.0     1.3     1.0     1.1     1.9     1.3     1.3 
                                                                                                                           
            Occupational group                                                                                             
                                                                                                                           
   White collar............................  185.1   187.7     1.4      .8     1.4      .9     1.1     2.3     1.0     1.4 
   Blue collar.............................  176.0   178.3      .8     1.4     1.2     1.3     1.3     2.5     2.1     1.3 
   Service.................................  182.2   184.1     1.8     1.4     1.1     1.7     1.0     2.7     1.3     1.0 

  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 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-   
                                             Sep.    Jun.    Sep.                                                 
                                             2002    2003    2003                                                 
                                                                     Sep.    Jun.    Sep.    Sep.    Jun.    Sep. 
                                                                     2002    2003    2003    2002    2003    2003 
                                                                                                                  
Civilian workers..........................  161.3   165.8   167.6     0.9     0.8     1.1     3.7     3.7     3.9 
    Excluding sales occupations...........  161.3   165.9   167.7     1.0      .8     1.1     3.7     3.9     4.0 
                                                                                                                  
                 Industry                                                                                         
                                                                                                                  
  Goods producing(2)......................  158.7   164.6   165.8      .6      .9      .7     3.6     4.4     4.5 
    Manufacturing.........................  159.1   165.4   166.5      .6      .9      .7     3.8     4.6     4.7 
  Service producing(3)....................  162.2   166.2   168.2      .9      .7     1.2     3.7     3.4     3.7 
    Services..............................  163.2   166.3   168.5     1.3      .6     1.3     3.2     3.2     3.2 
      Health services.....................  163.1   167.6   169.3      .8      .7     1.0     4.1     3.6     3.8 
        Hospitals.........................  165.7   170.8   173.1     1.2      .5     1.3     4.7     4.3     4.5 
      Educational services................  161.6   164.2   166.9     2.7      .4     1.6     3.5     4.3     3.3 
    Public administration(4)..............  160.2   164.3   167.3     1.7      .6     1.8     4.2     4.3     4.4 
                                                                                                                  
  Nonmanufacturing........................  161.7   165.8   167.8      .9      .8     1.2     3.7     3.5     3.8 
                                                                                                                  
            Occupational group                                                                                    
                                                                                                                  
  White collar............................  163.5   167.9   169.9      .9      .7     1.2     3.7     3.6     3.9 
      Excluding sales.....................  163.7   168.3   170.3     1.0      .7     1.2     3.5     3.8     4.0 
    Professional specialty and technical..  161.4   165.0   167.0     1.3      .5     1.2     3.0     3.6     3.5 
    Executive, administrative, and                                                                                
     managerial...........................  166.3   172.0   174.0      .4      .5     1.2     4.2     3.9     4.6 
    Administrative support, including                                                                             
     clerical.............................  164.9   170.0   171.7     1.0     1.0     1.0     3.8     4.1     4.1 
  Blue collar.............................  156.4   161.4   162.9      .8     1.0      .9     3.5     4.1     4.2 
  Service.................................  161.3   165.0   166.8     1.2      .5     1.1     4.1     3.5     3.4 
                                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                  
State and local government................  160.1   163.2   165.9     2.2      .4     1.7     3.8     4.1     3.6 
                                                                                                                  
                 Industry                                                                                         
                                                                                                                  
    Services..............................  159.7   162.3   164.9     2.4      .3     1.6     3.4     4.1     3.3 
        Excluding schools.................  161.0   164.2   166.8     1.4      .1     1.6     4.2     3.5     3.6 
      Health services.....................  163.5   166.7   169.5     1.3      .2     1.7     4.1     3.3     3.7 
        Hospitals.........................  164.1   167.3   170.3     1.4      .2     1.8     4.3     3.4     3.8 
      Educational services................  159.2   161.7   164.3     2.6      .4     1.6     3.3     4.3     3.2 
        Schools...........................  159.6   162.0   164.7     2.7      .4     1.7     3.4     4.2     3.2 
          Elementary and secondary........  157.7   160.0   163.0     2.7      .4     1.9     3.2     4.2     3.4 
          Colleges and universities.......  164.7   167.5   169.2     2.7      .3     1.0     3.6     4.4     2.7 
    Public administration(4)..............  160.2   164.3   167.3     1.7      .6     1.8     4.2     4.3     4.4 
                                                                                                                  
            Occupational group                                                                                    
                                                                                                                  
  White collar............................  159.3   162.2   164.9     2.3     0.3     1.7     3.6     4.2     3.5 
    Professional specialty and technical..  158.1   160.8   163.4     2.6      .4     1.6     3.5     4.3     3.4 
    Executive, administrative, and                                                                                
     managerial...........................  162.3   165.7   168.0     1.6      .2     1.4     3.8     3.7     3.5 
    Administrative support, including                                                                             
     clerical.............................  161.0   164.4   167.9     1.9      .4     2.1     4.4     4.1     4.3 
  Blue collar.............................  158.4   161.7   163.6     2.4      .2     1.2     4.6     4.5     3.3 
  Service.................................  165.2   168.9   172.0     1.7      .5     1.8     3.9     4.0     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, SICs 91 through 96.



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-   
                                             Sep.    Jun.    Sep.                                                 
                                             2002    2003    2003                                                 
                                                                     Sep.    Jun.    Sep.    Sep.    Jun.    Sep. 
                                                                     2002    2003    2003    2002    2003    2003 
                                                                                                                  
Private industry workers..................  161.6   166.4   168.1     0.6     0.8     1.0     3.7     3.5     4.0 
    Excluding sales occupations...........  161.6   166.6   168.1      .7      .9      .9     3.6     3.8     4.0 
                                                                                                                  
                 Industry                                                                                         
                                                                                                                  
  Goods producing(2)......................  158.6   164.5   165.7      .6      .9      .7     3.6     4.4     4.5 
      Excluding sales.....................  157.9   163.8   165.0      .6      .9      .7     3.5     4.4     4.5 
    White collar..........................  162.9   169.2   170.1      .6      .8      .5     3.9     4.5     4.4 
      Excluding sales.....................  161.1   167.5   168.5      .6      .7      .6     3.7     4.6     4.6 
    Blue collar...........................  155.9   161.5   162.9      .7     1.0      .9     3.4     4.3     4.5 
                                                                                                                  
    Construction..........................  156.3   161.1   162.3      .7     1.3      .7     3.0     3.8     3.8 
                                                                                                                  
    Manufacturing.........................  159.1   165.4   166.5      .6      .9      .7     3.8     4.6     4.7 
      White collar........................  162.2   168.7   169.5      .7     1.0      .5     4.0     4.7     4.5 
        Excluding sales...................  159.6   166.4   167.4      .6      .8      .6     3.8     4.9     4.9 
      Blue collar.........................  156.7   162.8   164.1      .6      .7      .8     3.6     4.5     4.7 
      Durables............................  158.9   165.5   166.6      .4      .7      .7     3.2     4.5     4.8 
        Aircraft manufacturing (SIC 3721).  168.8   183.7   184.4     -.1      .3      .4     5.3     8.8     9.2 
          White collar....................  163.7   177.3   177.5     -.3     -.3      .1     4.7     8.0     8.4 
          Blue collar.....................  175.4   192.3   193.9      .3     1.3      .8     6.1    10.0    10.5 
      Nondurables.........................  159.2   164.9   166.0     1.1     1.1      .7     4.7     4.7     4.3 
                                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                  
  Service producing(3)....................  162.7   167.0   168.8      .6      .8     1.1     3.7     3.2     3.7 
      Excluding sales.....................  163.5   168.0   169.7      .7      .8     1.0     3.6     3.4     3.8 
    White collar..........................  164.7   169.2   171.2      .4      .8     1.2     3.6     3.2     3.9 
      Excluding sales.....................  166.5   171.3   173.1      .5      .8     1.1     3.5     3.4     4.0 
    Blue collar...........................  156.6   160.8   162.2      .9     1.3      .9     3.8     3.6     3.6 
    Service...............................  158.5   162.0   163.2     1.0      .6      .7     4.1     3.2     3.0 
                                                                                                                  
    Transportation and public utilities...  160.8   165.4   166.5     1.2     1.3      .7     4.8     4.1     3.5 
      Transportation......................  155.4   158.9   159.4     1.0      .7      .3     4.9     3.2     2.6 
      Public utilities....................  168.2   174.2   176.4     1.6     2.2     1.3     4.7     5.3     4.9 
        Communications....................  169.0   175.5   178.4     1.7     2.5     1.7     3.8     5.7     5.6 
        Electric, gas, and sanitary                                                                               
         services.........................  167.2   172.6   173.8     1.5     1.8      .7     5.8     4.7     3.9 
                                                                                                                  
    Wholesale and retail trade............  159.6   162.5   164.3      .1      .7     1.1     3.8     1.9     2.9 
        Excluding sales...................  160.3   162.7   165.0      .2      .6     1.4     3.2     1.7     2.9 
      Wholesale trade.....................  165.9   171.3   172.0     -.2     1.1      .4     4.6     3.0     3.7 
        Excluding sales...................  166.1   169.9   171.2     1.0      .9      .8     3.8     3.3     3.1 
      Retail trade........................  156.0   157.4   159.9      .3      .5     1.6     3.4     1.2     2.5 
        General merchandise stores........  156.1   159.2   161.2     1.2     1.8     1.3     4.3     3.2     3.3 
        Food stores.......................  156.3   158.6   159.3     1.2      .7      .4     4.4     2.7     1.9 
                                                                                                                  
    Finance, insurance, and real estate...  168.0   178.3   180.2      .4      .9     1.1     4.4     6.6     7.3 
        Excluding sales...................  172.1   184.0   185.3      .5     1.1      .7     4.5     7.4     7.7 
      Banking, savings and loan, and other                                                                        
       credit agencies....................  184.6   206.3   207.6      .2     1.0      .6     5.2    12.0    12.5 
      Insurance...........................  167.1   173.9   175.1      .6     1.0      .7     4.5     4.7     4.8 
        Excluding sales...................  165.1   171.7   172.8      .5     1.2      .6     4.5     4.5     4.7 
                                                                                                                  
    Services..............................  164.9   168.4   170.4      .7      .8     1.2     3.1     2.9     3.3 
      Business services...................  167.2   169.2   171.9      .4      .4     1.6     1.2     1.6     2.8 
      Health services.....................  163.2   167.9   169.4      .7      .8      .9     4.1     3.6     3.8 
        Hospitals.........................  166.2   171.9   173.9     1.0      .6     1.2     4.9     4.5     4.6 
        Nursing homes.....................    -       -       -        .7      .8      .8     4.1     3.5     3.6 
      Educational services................  173.5   177.1   180.2     2.7      .5     1.8     4.3     4.8     3.9 
        Colleges and universities.........  172.0   175.4   178.4     2.1      .5     1.7     3.5     4.2     3.7 
Industry-Continued                                                                                                
                                                                                                                  
  Nonmanufacturing industries.............  162.0   166.4   168.1     0.6     0.9     1.0     3.6     3.3     3.8 
    White collar..........................  164.8   169.3   171.2      .4      .8     1.1     3.6     3.2     3.9 
      Excluding sales.....................  166.6   171.4   173.2      .5      .8     1.1     3.5     3.4     4.0 
    Blue collar...........................  155.4   159.7   161.1      .9     1.4      .9     3.5     3.7     3.7 
    Service...............................  158.4   162.0   163.2     1.0      .6      .7     4.1     3.3     3.0 
                                                                                                                  
            Occupational group                                                                                    
                                                                                                                  
  White collar............................  164.6   169.4   171.2      .5      .8     1.1     3.7     3.4     4.0 
      Excluding sales.....................  165.3   170.4   172.1      .6      .8     1.0     3.6     3.7     4.1 
    Professional specialty and technical..  163.6   167.7   169.4      .7      .7     1.0     2.8     3.2     3.5 
    Executive, administrative, and                                                                                
     managerial...........................  167.0   173.1   175.0      .2      .6     1.1     4.2     3.9     4.8 
    Sales.................................  161.6   165.1   167.2      .0     1.0     1.3     4.3     2.2     3.5 
    Administrative support, including                                                                             
     clerical.............................  165.6   170.9   172.3      .9     1.1      .8     3.8     4.1     4.0 
                                                                                                                  
  Blue collar.............................  156.3   161.4   162.8      .8     1.1      .9     3.5     4.1     4.2 
    Precision production, craft, and                                                                              
     repair...............................  156.9   162.0   163.1      .8     1.3      .7     3.4     4.0     4.0 
    Machine operators, assemblers, and                                                                            
     inspectors...........................  155.4   161.1   162.6      .5      .8      .9     3.3     4.1     4.6 
    Transportation and material moving....  151.0   155.1   156.7      .9     1.2     1.0     3.7     3.7     3.8 
    Handlers, equipment cleaners, helpers,                                                                        
     and laborers.........................  161.4   166.8   168.6      .9     1.2     1.1     4.2     4.3     4.5 
                                                                                                                  
  Service.................................  159.0   162.6   163.8     1.0      .6      .7     4.2     3.3     3.0 
                                                                                                                  
  Production and nonsupervisory                                                                                   
   occupations(4).........................  159.7   164.1   165.7      .6      .9     1.0     3.5     3.4     3.8 

  1 Includes wages, salaries, and employer costs for employee benefits.
  2 Includes mining, construction, and manufacturing.
  3 Includes transportation, communication, and public utilities; wholesale and retail trade; finance, insurance,
and real estate; and service industries.
  4 This series has the same industry and occupational coverage as the Hourly Earnings Index, which was
discontinued in January 1989.
  
  NOTE:  Dashes indicate data not available.



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-   
                                             Sep.    Jun.    Sep.                                                 
                                             2002    2003    2003                                                 
                                                                     Sep.    Jun.    Sep.    Sep.    Jun.    Sep. 
                                                                     2002    2003    2003    2002    2003    2003 
                                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                  
            Bargaining status                                                                                     
                                                                                                                  
Union.....................................  158.1   164.1   165.7     1.2     1.2     1.0     4.7     5.0     4.8 
    Blue-collar occupations...............  155.2   161.4   163.1     1.1     1.4     1.1     4.4     5.1     5.1 
                                                                                                                  
  Goods-producing industries(2)...........  156.2   163.4   164.7     1.0     1.2      .8     3.7     5.6     5.4 
  Service-producing industries(3).........  159.9   164.6   166.5     1.5     1.2     1.2     5.8     4.4     4.1 
                                                                                                                  
  Manufacturing...........................  155.9   163.8   165.0      .8      .9      .7     4.0     6.0     5.8 
    Blue-collar occupations...............  155.0   162.5   163.7      .8      .9      .7     3.7     5.7     5.6 
  Nonmanufacturing........................  158.8   163.7   165.5     1.4     1.4     1.1     5.1     4.5     4.2 
                                                                                                                  
Nonunion..................................  162.2   166.8   168.4      .5      .8     1.0     3.5     3.3     3.8 
    Blue-collar occupations...............  156.9   161.3   162.6      .6      .9      .8     3.1     3.4     3.6 
                                                                                                                  
  Goods-producing industries(2)...........  159.5   164.9   166.1      .6      .8      .7     3.6     4.0     4.1 
  Service-producing industries(3).........  162.9   167.2   169.0      .4      .8     1.1     3.4     3.1     3.7 
                                                                                                                  
  Manufacturing...........................  160.1   165.8   166.9      .6      .8      .7     3.7     4.2     4.2 
    Blue-collar occupations...............  157.5   162.6   164.1      .5      .7      .9     3.6     3.8     4.2 
  Nonmanufacturing........................  162.4   166.7   168.5      .4      .8     1.1     3.4     3.1     3.8 
                                                                                                                  
                Region(4)                                                                                         
                                                                                                                  
Northeast.................................  160.5   165.2   166.9      .4      .9     1.0     3.4     3.3     4.0 
South.....................................  158.9   161.6   163.2      .8      .6     1.0     3.5     2.5     2.7 
Midwest...................................  163.5   170.4   171.7      .6      .8      .8     3.9     4.8     5.0 
West......................................  163.8   169.5   171.4      .6     1.3     1.1     3.9     4.1     4.6 
                                                                                                                  
                   Area                                                                                           
                                                                                                                  
Metropolitan..............................  161.8   166.6   168.3      .6      .8     1.0     3.7     3.5     4.0 
Other.....................................  160.0   165.0   166.1      .9      .9      .7     3.4     4.1     3.8 

  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-   
                                             Sep.    Jun.    Sep.                                                 
                                             2002    2003    2003                                                 
                                                                     Sep.    Jun.    Sep.    Sep.    Jun.    Sep. 
                                                                     2002    2003    2003    2002    2003    2003 
                                                                                                                  
Civilian workers..........................  157.2   160.3   161.8     0.7     0.6     0.9     3.2     2.7     2.9 
    Excluding sales occupations...........  157.1   160.3   161.7      .8      .6      .9     3.2     2.8     2.9 
                                                                                                                  
                 Industry                                                                                         
                                                                                                                  
  Goods producing(1)......................  153.9   157.5   158.3      .5      .8      .5     2.9     2.9     2.9 
    Manufacturing.........................  155.4   159.0   159.7      .6      .6      .4     3.1     2.9     2.8 
  Service producing(2)....................  158.4   161.4   163.0      .8      .6     1.0     3.3     2.7     2.9 
    Services..............................  160.7   162.8   164.7     1.2      .6     1.2     2.9     2.5     2.5 
      Health services.....................  159.6   163.2   164.7      .7      .7      .9     3.8     3.0     3.2 
        Hospitals.........................  160.3   164.4   166.3     1.1      .6     1.2     4.4     3.7     3.7 
      Educational services................  159.3   160.7   162.7     2.4      .2     1.2     3.0     3.3     2.1 
    Public administration(3)..............  154.8   158.0   159.4      .9      .5      .9     3.0     3.0     3.0 
                                                                                                                  
  Nonmanufacturing........................  157.5   160.5   162.1      .7      .6     1.0     3.2     2.6     2.9 
                                                                                                                  
            Occupational group                                                                                    
                                                                                                                  
  White collar............................  159.6   162.9   164.5      .8      .6     1.0     3.3     2.8     3.1 
      Excluding sales.....................  160.1   163.5   165.0      .9      .6      .9     3.2     3.0     3.1 
    Professional specialty and technical..  158.0   160.1   161.8     1.2      .5     1.1     2.5     2.5     2.4 
    Executive, administrative, and                                                                                
     managerial...........................  163.5   169.0   170.5      .6      .7      .9     4.3     3.9     4.3 
    Administrative support, including                                                                             
     clerical.............................  159.6   163.1   164.3      .8      .8      .7     3.2     3.0     2.9 
  Blue collar.............................  151.9   154.8   155.8      .6      .7      .6     2.9     2.5     2.6 
  Service.................................  156.2   158.7   159.8      .7      .4      .7     3.3     2.3     2.3 
                                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                  
State and local government................  157.7   159.7   161.3     1.8      .3     1.0     3.1     3.1     2.3 
                                                                                                                  
                 Industry                                                                                         
                                                                                                                  
    Services..............................  158.4   159.8   161.6     2.2      .2     1.1     3.1     3.1     2.0 
        Excluding schools.................  159.1   161.8   163.2     1.1      .2      .9     3.9     2.9     2.6 
      Health services.....................  160.5   163.5   165.1     1.1      .4     1.0     4.1     3.0     2.9 
        Hospitals.........................  160.6   163.8   165.5     1.1      .4     1.0     4.2     3.1     3.1 
      Educational services................  158.1   159.3   161.2     2.3      .1     1.2     2.9     3.1     2.0 
        Schools...........................  158.3   159.5   161.4     2.4      .2     1.2     2.9     3.2     2.0 
          Elementary and secondary........  157.4   158.5   160.6     2.5      .2     1.3     3.0     3.2     2.0 
          Colleges and universities.......  160.7   162.1   163.5     2.2      .0      .9     2.7     3.1     1.7 
    Public administration(3)..............  154.8   158.0   159.4      .9      .5      .9     3.0     3.0     3.0 
                                                                                                                  
            Occupational group                                                                                    
                                                                                                                  
  White collar............................  157.4   159.2   161.0     1.9     0.2     1.1     3.1     3.1     2.3 
    Professional specialty and technical..  157.5   159.1   161.0     2.2      .2     1.2     2.9     3.2     2.2 
    Executive, administrative, and                                                                                
     managerial...........................  159.0   161.0   162.5     1.4      .1      .9     3.3     2.7     2.2 
    Administrative support, including                                                                             
     clerical.............................  155.1   157.2   159.1     1.5      .2     1.2     3.5     2.9     2.6 
  Blue collar.............................  154.5   156.5   157.6     1.6      .2      .7     3.6     2.9     2.0 
  Service.................................  160.6   163.8   164.9      .9      .7      .7     2.9     2.9     2.7 

  1 Includes mining, construction, and manufacturing.
  2 Includes transportation, communication, and public utilities; wholesale and retail trade; finance, insurance,
and real estate; service industries; and public administration.
  3 Includes executive, legislative, judicial, administrative, and regulatory activities of State and local
governments, SICs 91 through 96.



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-   
                                             Sep.    Jun.    Sep.                                                 
                                             2002    2003    2003                                                 
                                                                     Sep.    Jun.    Sep.    Sep.    Jun.    Sep. 
                                                                     2002    2003    2003    2002    2003    2003 
                                                                                                                  
Private industry workers..................  157.0   160.4   161.7     0.4     0.7     0.8     3.2     2.6     3.0 
    Excluding sales occupations...........  157.0   160.5   161.7      .6      .7      .7     3.2     2.8     3.0 
                                                                                                                  
                 Industry                                                                                         
                                                                                                                  
  Goods producing(1)......................  153.9   157.4   158.3      .5      .7      .6     2.9     2.8     2.9 
      Excluding sales.....................  153.0   156.5   157.4      .5      .7      .6     2.9     2.8     2.9 
    White collar..........................  157.5   161.4   161.9      .6      .9      .3     3.2     3.1     2.8 
      Excluding sales.....................  155.4   159.2   159.9      .6      .8      .4     3.1     3.0     2.9 
    Blue collar...........................  151.5   154.8   155.9      .5      .7      .7     2.8     2.7     2.9 
                                                                                                                  
    Construction..........................  149.0   152.4   153.6      .5     1.2      .8     2.7     2.8     3.1 
                                                                                                                  
    Manufacturing.........................  155.4   159.0   159.7      .6      .6      .4     3.1     2.9     2.8 
      White collar........................  157.7   161.6   162.0      .7      .9      .2     3.2     3.2     2.7 
        Excluding sales...................  155.0   158.9   159.5      .7      .8      .4     3.0     3.2     2.9 
      Blue collar.........................  153.5   156.9   157.9      .5      .4      .6     3.0     2.7     2.9 
      Durables............................  156.0   159.7   160.6      .5      .6      .6     3.0     2.8     2.9 
        Aircraft manufacturing (SIC 3721).  162.5   166.9   167.4      .0      .5      .3     3.8     2.7     3.0 
          White collar....................  155.9   160.2   160.3     -.3     -.1      .1     3.3     2.4     2.8 
          Blue collar.....................  172.2   176.5   177.8      .5     1.7      .7     4.4     3.0     3.3 
      Nondurables.........................  154.4   157.8   158.3      .8      .8      .3     3.4     3.1     2.5 
                                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                  
  Service producing(2)....................  158.4   161.7   163.3      .4      .7     1.0     3.4     2.5     3.1 
      Excluding sales.....................  159.3   162.8   164.2      .5      .7      .9     3.3     2.7     3.1 
    White collar..........................  160.5   164.1   166.0      .4      .7     1.2     3.4     2.6     3.4 
      Excluding sales.....................  162.5   166.5   168.2      .6      .7     1.0     3.4     3.0     3.5 
    Blue collar...........................  151.8   154.3   155.1      .5      .7      .5     2.9     2.1     2.2 
    Service...............................  153.5   155.6   156.6      .7      .3      .6     3.4     2.1     2.0 
                                                                                                                  
    Transportation and public utilities...  153.4   155.6   156.0      .9      .5      .3     4.6     2.3     1.7 
      Transportation......................  149.6   150.6   150.4      .7      .1     -.1     4.9     1.3      .5 
      Public utilities....................  158.2   162.1   163.4     1.2     1.1      .8     4.1     3.6     3.3 
        Communications....................  159.6   163.4   165.4     1.6      .9     1.2     4.1     4.0     3.6 
        Electric, gas, and sanitary                                                                               
         services.........................  156.5   160.4   161.0      .6     1.1      .4     4.1     3.2     2.9 
                                                                                                                  
    Wholesale and retail trade............  155.5   157.5   159.2     -.1      .5     1.1     3.3     1.2     2.4 
        Excluding sales...................  157.1   158.7   160.7      .0      .5     1.3     2.6     1.0     2.3 
      Wholesale trade.....................  160.4   164.7   164.8     -.6      .8      .1     4.1     2.1     2.7 
        Excluding sales...................  162.6   165.2   165.7      .9      .8      .3     3.3     2.5     1.9 
      Retail trade........................  152.9   153.8   156.3      .1      .5     1.6     2.8      .7     2.2 
        General merchandise stores........  150.1   152.0   153.1     0.8     1.5     0.7     3.0     2.1     2.0 
        Food stores.......................  150.1   151.6   152.2      .8      .4      .4     3.0     1.8     1.4 
                                                                                                                  
    Finance, insurance, and real estate...  162.4   172.4   174.1      .2      .8     1.0     4.2     6.4     7.2 
        Excluding sales...................  166.1   178.5   179.2      .2     1.0      .4     4.4     7.7     7.9 
      Banking, savings and loan, and other                                                                        
       credit agencies....................  182.7   208.7   209.1     -.1     1.1      .2     5.5    14.2    14.4 
      Insurance...........................  159.6   163.0   163.9      .6      .9      .6     3.9     2.8     2.7 
        Excluding sales...................  155.9   159.6   160.4      .5     1.1      .5     4.1     2.9     2.9 
                                                                                                                  
    Services..............................  161.5   164.0   165.9      .7      .7     1.2     2.8     2.3     2.7 
      Business services...................  164.6   166.4   169.1      .4      .5     1.6     1.1     1.5     2.7 
      Health services.....................  159.5   163.2   164.6      .7      .8      .9     3.8     3.0     3.2 
        Hospitals.........................  160.2   164.6   166.5     1.0      .6     1.2     4.5     3.8     3.9 
        Nursing homes.....................    -       -       -        .8      .7      .7     4.3     3.3     3.1 
      Educational services................  165.2   167.7   170.3     2.5      .4     1.6     3.5     4.0     3.1 
        Colleges and universities.........  163.1   165.1   167.6     2.0      .4     1.5     3.0     3.3     2.8 
Industry-Continued                                                                                                
                                                                                                                  
  Nonmanufacturing industries.............  157.2   160.5   162.1     0.4     0.7     1.0     3.3     2.6     3.1 
    White collar..........................  160.2   163.9   165.7      .4      .7     1.1     3.4     2.7     3.4 
      Excluding sales.....................  162.1   166.1   167.7      .5      .7     1.0     3.3     3.0     3.5 
    Blue collar...........................  149.8   152.4   153.4      .5      .9      .7     2.7     2.3     2.4 
    Service...............................  153.4   155.5   156.5      .7      .3      .6     3.5     2.1     2.0 
                                                                                                                  
            Occupational group                                                                                    
                                                                                                                  
  White collar............................  160.0   163.8   165.3      .4      .7      .9     3.4     2.8     3.3 
      Excluding sales.....................  160.8   164.8   166.2      .5      .7      .8     3.3     3.0     3.4 
    Professional specialty and technical..  158.2   160.5   162.1      .5      .6     1.0     2.2     2.0     2.5 
    Executive, administrative, and                                                                                
     managerial...........................  164.3   170.3   171.8      .4      .7      .9     4.5     4.1     4.6 
    Sales.................................  156.9   159.3   161.6     -.1      .8     1.4     3.8     1.5     3.0 
    Administrative support, including                                                                             
     clerical.............................  160.3   164.0   165.1      .7      .9      .7     3.2     3.0     3.0 
                                                                                                                  
  Blue collar.............................  151.7   154.6   155.6      .5      .7      .6     2.8     2.5     2.6 
    Precision production, craft, and                                                                              
     repair...............................  151.8   154.7   155.5      .5      .8      .5     2.8     2.5     2.4 
    Machine operators, assemblers, and                                                                            
     inspectors...........................  152.0   155.3   156.8      .3      .4     1.0     2.6     2.4     3.2 
    Transportation and material moving....  146.3   149.0   149.8      .8      .8      .5     3.0     2.6     2.4 
    Handlers, equipment cleaners, helpers,                                                                        
     and laborers.........................  156.0   159.0   159.9      .6      .4      .6     3.3     2.5     2.5 
                                                                                                                  
  Service.................................  153.9   156.1   157.1      .7      .4      .6     3.5     2.2     2.1 
                                                                                                                  
  Production and nonsupervisory                                                                                   
   occupations(3).........................  154.7   157.4   158.8      .5      .6      .9     2.9     2.2     2.7 

  1 Includes mining, construction, and manufacturing.
  2 Includes transportation, communication, and public utilities; wholesale and retail trade; finance, insurance,
and real estate; and service industries.
  3 This series has the same industry and occupational coverage as the Hourly Earnings Index, which was
discontinued in January 1989.
  
  NOTE:  Dashes indicate data not available.



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-   
                                             Sep.    Jun.    Sep.                                                 
                                             2002    2003    2003                                                 
                                                                     Sep.    Jun.    Sep.    Sep.    Jun.    Sep. 
                                                                     2002    2003    2003    2002    2003    2003 
                                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                  
            Bargaining status                                                                                     
                                                                                                                  
Union.....................................  151.3   154.3   155.3     1.0     0.7     0.6     4.3     3.0     2.6 
    Blue-collar occupations...............  148.4   151.6   152.8      .8      .7      .8     3.6     3.0     3.0 
                                                                                                                  
  Goods-producing industries(1)...........  150.0   153.9   154.8      .9     1.0      .6     3.2     3.6     3.2 
  Service-producing industries(2).........  152.9   155.1   156.3     1.0      .3      .8     5.2     2.4     2.2 
                                                                                                                  
  Manufacturing...........................  151.6   155.9   156.7      .9      .8      .5     3.3     3.8     3.4 
    Blue-collar occupations...............  150.3   154.4   155.2      .9      .7      .5     3.1     3.6     3.3 
  Nonmanufacturing........................  151.1   153.5   154.6     1.0      .7      .7     4.7     2.6     2.3 
                                                                                                                  
Nonunion..................................  158.1   161.5   163.0      .4      .7      .9     3.1     2.5     3.1 
    Blue-collar occupations...............  153.7   156.5   157.5      .4      .6      .6     2.5     2.2     2.5 
                                                                                                                  
  Goods-producing industries(1)...........  155.5   158.9   159.7      .5      .7      .5     2.9     2.6     2.7 
  Service-producing industries(2).........  158.9   162.3   164.0      .4      .7     1.0     3.1     2.5     3.2 
                                                                                                                  
  Manufacturing...........................  156.8   160.2   160.9      .4      .6      .4     3.0     2.6     2.6 
    Blue-collar occupations...............  155.7   158.7   159.8      .3      .3      .7     2.9     2.2     2.6 
  Nonmanufacturing........................  158.1   161.5   163.1      .4      .7     1.0     3.1     2.5     3.2 
                                                                                                                  
                Region(3)                                                                                         
                                                                                                                  
Northeast.................................  155.1   158.4   160.0      .1      .7     1.0     3.0     2.3     3.2 
South.....................................  154.7   156.1   157.4      .7      .5      .8     3.0     1.6     1.7 
Midwest...................................  159.2   165.0   166.1      .4      .5      .7     3.6     4.1     4.3 
West......................................  159.3   163.1   164.7      .4     1.1     1.0     3.2     2.8     3.4 
                                                                                                                  
                   Area                                                                                           
                                                                                                                  
Metropolitan..............................  157.4   160.7   162.2      .4      .7      .9     3.3     2.6     3.0 
Other.....................................  153.8   158.0   158.9      .8      .8      .6     2.7     3.5     3.3 

  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                Sep.    Jun.    Sep.                                                 
                                             2002    2003    2003                                                 
                                                                     Sep.    Jun.    Sep.    Sep.    Jun.    Sep. 
                                                                     2002    2003    2003    2002    2003    2003 
                                                                                                                  
Civilian workers..........................  171.7   180.0   182.8     1.4     1.2     1.6     4.9     6.3     6.5 
 State and local government...............  165.8   171.6   176.9     3.2      .6     3.1     5.4     6.8     6.7 
 Private industry.........................  173.1   182.0   184.3      .9     1.3     1.3     4.8     6.1     6.5 
                                                                                                                  
                 Industry                                                                                         
                                                                                                                  
   Goods producing(1).....................  168.8   180.2   182.3      .8     1.2     1.2     5.0     7.6     8.0 
   Service producing(2)...................  174.9   182.3   184.7      .9     1.3     1.3     4.7     5.2     5.6 
                                                                                                                  
   Manufacturing..........................  166.8   179.0   181.1      .8     1.2     1.2     5.2     8.2     8.6 
     Aircraft manufacturing (SIC 3721)....  182.6   220.3   221.4      .0      .0      .5     8.6    20.6    21.2 
       White collar.......................  182.2   218.3   218.7     -.2     -.6      .2     7.9    19.6    20.0 
       Blue collar........................  181.8   221.8   224.0      .2      .8     1.0     9.5    22.3    23.2 
   Nonmanufacturing.......................  175.2   182.8   185.1     1.0     1.4     1.3     4.7     5.4     5.7 
                                                                                                                  
            Occupational group                                                                                    
                                                                                                                  
   White collar...........................  177.2   185.5   187.7      .6     1.0     1.2     4.5     5.3     5.9 
   Blue collar............................  166.2   176.1   178.4     1.3     2.0     1.3     5.0     7.4     7.3 
   Service................................  173.4   182.1   184.1     1.8     1.1     1.1     6.3     6.9     6.2 
                                                                                                                  
            Bargaining status                                                                                     
                                                                                                                  
   Union..................................  170.8   182.7   185.4     1.6     2.2     1.5     5.5     8.7     8.5 
   Nonunion...............................  173.4   181.5   183.7      .8     1.1     1.2     4.6     5.5     5.9 

  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.
 
 
                             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 referral bonuses
 and 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, Medicare, Federal and
 State unemployment insurance, and workers' compensation; and other
 benefits-severance pay and supplemental unemployment plans.
 
     The ECI provides data for the civilian economy, which includes the
 total private nonfarm economy excluding households and the public sector
 excluding the Federal government.  The private industry series and the
 State and local government series provide data for the two sectors
 separately.
 
     Data for this quarter were collected from a probability sample of
 approximately 36,750 occupational observations within about 8,400 sample
 establishments in private industry and approximately 3,650 occupations
 within about 800 sample establishments in State and local governments.
 Data are collected for the pay period including the 12th day of the survey
 months of March, June, September, and December.
 
     The sampled establishments are classified by industry categories based
 on the 1987 Standard Industrial Classification (SIC), as defined by the
 U.S. Office of Management and Budget.  Details on the sample design are
 included in the bulletin, Employment Cost Indexes, 1975-99, (Bulletin
 2532).  Within an establishment, specific job categories are selected and
 classified into about 500 occupational classifications according to the
 1990 Census of Population.  Individual occupations are combined into
 broader occupational groups.  Fixed employment weights are used each
 quarter to calculate the most aggregate series-civilian, private, and
 State and local government.  These fixed weights are also used to derive
 all of the industry and occupation series indexes.  Since March 1995, 1990
 employment counts, primarily from the Bureau's Occupational Employment
 Statistics survey, have been used.  For more information on these topics,
 see the articles, "Introducing New Weights for the Employment Cost Index,"
 in the June 1985 issue of the Monthly Labor Review and "Introducing 1990
 Weights for the Employment Cost Index" in the June 1995 issue of
 Compensation and Working Conditions.
 
     For the series based on bargaining status, region, and area size,
 employment data are not available.  The employment weights are reallocated
 within these series each quarter based on the current ECI sample.  The
 indexes for these series, consequently, are not strictly comparable to
 those for the aggregate, industry, and occupation series.  A fuller
 explanation of the calculation of index numbers appears in an article,
 "Estimation Procedures for the Employment Cost Index," in the May 1982
 issue of the Monthly Labor Review.  Beginning with the March 1990 ECI
 release, indexes were rebased to June 1989=100.  A description of the
 rebasing is included in the article "Employment Cost Index Rebased to June
 1989," in the April 1990 issue of the Monthly Labor Review.
 
     Beginning with the December 1990 ECI release, seasonally adjusted data
 are available for selected ECI series.  Seasonal adjustment removes the
 effects of events that follow a more or less regular pattern each year.
 These adjustments make nonseasonal patterns easier to identify.  For more
 information on the methodology used to seasonally adjust ECI series, see
 the bulletin, Employment Cost Indexes, 1975-99, (Bulletin 2532).  The
 seasonal adjustment factors are recalculated once a year.  The March
 release contains data reflecting the newly updated seasonal adjustment factors.
 The historical data for the last five years are then revised based on the
 newly estimated factors.  The new seasonal factors for 2003 and revised
 seasonally adjusted indexes for the past five years are available on the
 Internet site (http://www.bls.gov/ncs/ect/home.htm) or upon request.
 
     The ECI sample is rotated over approximately five years, which makes
 the sample more representative and reduces respondent burden.  The sample
 is replaced on a cross-area, cross-industry basis.
 
     Because the ECI is a sample survey, it is subject to sampling errors.
 Sampling errors are differences that occur between the results computed
 from a sample of observations and those computed from all observations in
 the population.  The estimates derived from different samples selected
 using the same sample design may differ from one other.  A measure of the
 variation among these differing estimates is the standard error.  It can
 be used to measure the precision with which an estimate from a particular
 sample approximates the expected result of all possible samples.  The
 chances are about 68 out of 100 that an estimate from the survey differs
 from a complete population figure by less than the standard error.  The
 chances are about 90 out of 100 that this difference would be less than
 1.6 times the standard error.  The statements of comparisons appearing in
 this publication are significant at a 1.6 standard error level or better,
 unless otherwise indicated.  This means that for differences cited, the
 estimated difference is greater than 1.6 times the standard error of the
 difference.
 
     Because standard errors vary from quarter to quarter, the ECI uses a
 five-year moving average of standard errors to evaluate published series.
 To assist users in ascertaining the reliability of series, the five-year
 moving average of standard errors for all estimates (excluding seasonally
 adjusted series) will be available on the Internet site
 (http://www.bls.gov/ncs/ect/home.htm) shortly after publication of the
 news release.
 
     When determining data to be used in contract negotiations, it is
 important to note that differences by bargaining status may be due to
 factors other than union status, such as occupational and industry mix.
 For example, union occupations tend to be concentrated in blue-collar
 occupations within manufacturing industries.  Thus, differences between
 blue-collar and white-collar pay or differences in manufacturing versus
 nonmanufacturing industries could explain such differences.  An important
 consideration when choosing a series for escalation is the number of
 workers covered.  Series with smaller numbers of workers may have larger
 sampling errors or be dominated by a smaller number of employers.  For
 more information, see the web site:
 (http://www.bls.gov/ect/escalator.htm).
 
     More detailed information on the ECI is available from several
 sources.  These include an historical bulletin-Employment Cost Indexes,
 1975-99, (Bulletin 2532), a chapter, "National Compensation Measures," in
 the BLS Handbook of Methods (Bulletin 2490), and several articles
 published in the Monthly Labor Review and Compensation and Working
 Conditions.  The bulletin is available from the Superintendent of
 Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402, or
 Bureau of Labor Statistics, Publications Sales Center, P.O. Box 2145,
 Chicago, Illinois 60690, (312) 353-1880.  Reprints of the articles and
 other descriptive pieces are available upon request by calling (202) 691-
 6199 or sending e-mail to (ocltinfo@bls.gov).  Current and historical data
 are available at the web site:  (http://www.bls.gov/ncs/ect/home.htm).
 
     The costs per hour worked of compensation components, based on data
 from the ECI, were recently published in a separate news release titled
 "Employer Costs for Employee Compensation-June 2003."  Historical data and
 related articles are included in the bulletin, Employer Costs for Employee
 Compensation, 1986-99, (Bulletin 2526).  An annual historical summary from
 March 1986 through March 2002 is also available on the Internet site
 (http://www.bls.gov/ncs/ect/home.htm) or upon request.  Data are also
 available on a quarterly basis beginning with June 2002 data.  The
 September 2003 data are expected to be published in November 2003.  The
 cost levels are calculated with current employment weights, rather than
 the fixed 1990 weights used in computing the ECI.  Therefore, year-to-year
 changes in the cost levels usually differ from those in the ECI.
 
     Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired
 individuals upon request.  Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Federal Relay
 Service Number: 1-800-877-8339.