August 03, 2009 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

12-month private industry compensation costs increase in June: 1.5 percent

Compensation costs for private industry workers increased 1.5 percent for the 12-month period ending June 2009. This is the smallest percent change published for this series since it began in 1980. The cost increases—evident in both wages and salaries as well as benefits—were the smallest increases published in the history of these data series.

12-month percent changes in total compensation costs for private industry workers, selected industries, June 2009
[Chart data—TXT]

The wage and salary series, which began in 1975, increased 1.6 percent for the current 12-month period. The cost of benefits, which has been measured since 1980, increased 1.3 percent for the 12-month period ending June 2009.

Among industries, compensation cost increases for private industry workers for the 12-month period ending in June 2009 ranged from 0.6 percent for financial activities to 2.5 percent for the leisure and hospitality industry, as shown in the chart.

These earnings data are from the Employment Cost Trends program. For more information, see "Employment Cost Index — June 2009" (HTML) (PDF), BLS news release USDL-09-0874.

 

 

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