Department of Labor Logo United States Department of Labor
Dot gov

The .gov means it's official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you're on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Employer Costs for Employee Compensation

Understanding ECEC Series IDs: A guide to series ID usage and formatting

When working with data from the Employer Costs for Employee Compensation (ECEC), each series available will be assigned a specific series ID code. These codes are 17 digits long with each part corresponding to a feature of that series. Using the codes listed below, users can put together each portion of any series ID used in the ECEC.

Understanding the different components of series IDs allows users to quickly find series using the Series ID shortcut, create custom database query code using the BLS Public Data API, and reference IDs in existing literature. Series ID codes are used for more programs than the ECEC; the Series ID Format page contains information on each ID format used by any BLS program.

ECEC Series ID

  1. Publication Prefix (AA)
  2. Seasonal adjustment (B) 
    • The ECEC does not contain any seasonally adjusted series so this code will always read “U” for not seasonally adjusted.
  3. Ownership (C) 
    • Indicator of whether the establishment represents all workers, only those in the private sector, or only those in state and local government. For more information on exclusions from the survey scope, see the Handbook of Methods.
      Table 1. Ownership codes
      Series ID Code Ownership

      1

      Civilian Workers

      2

      Private Industry Workers

      3

      State and Local Government Workers
  4. Estimate code (DD) 
    • The type of employer provided compensation, either from wages and salaries or benefits.
      Table 2. Estimate codes
      Series ID Code Estimate

      01

      Total compensation

      02

      Wages and salaries

      03

      Total benefits

      04

      Paid leave

      05

      Vacation

      06

      Holiday

      07

      Sick leave

      08

      Personal leave

      09

      Supplemental pay

      10

      Overtime and premium pay

      11

      Shift differentials

      12

      Nonproduction bonuses

      13

      Insurance

      14

      Life insurance

      15

      Health insurance

      16

      Short-term disability insurance

      17

      Long-term disability insurance

      18

      Retirement and savings

      19

      Defined benefit

      20

      Defined contribution

      21

      Legally Required benefits

      22

      Social Security and Medicare

      23

      Social Security

      24

      Medicare

      25

      Federal unemployment insurance

      26

      State unemployment insurance

      27

      Workers' compensation

      28*

      Other benefits

      *Discontinued

  5. Industry (EEEE) 
    • Establishments are classified into industries using the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS).
      Table 3. Industry codes
      Series ID Code Industry NCS Code NAICS Code

      0000

      All workers 000000 21-92

      4400

      Utilities 220000 22

      2300

      Construction 230000 22

      3000

      Manufacturing 300000 31-33

      3211

      Aircraft manufacturing 336411 336411

      4000

      Trade, transportation, and utilities 400000 42, 44-45, 48-49, 22

      4120

      Retail trade 412000 44-45

      4110

      Wholesale trade 420000 42

      4300

      Transportation and warehousing 430000 48-49

      5100

      Information 510000 51

      5200

      Finance and insurance 520000 52-53

      520A

      Financial activities 520A00 52-53

      5220

      Credit intermediation 522000 522

      5240

      Insurance carriers 524000 524

      5300

      Real estate and rental and leasing 530000 53

      5400

      Professional, scientific, and technical services 540000 54

      540A

      Professional and business services 540A00 54-56

      5600

      Administrative and support and waste management and remediation services 560000 56

      6000

      Education and health services 600000 61-62

      6100

      Educational services 610000 61

      6111

      Elementary and secondary schools 611100 6111

      6120

      Junior colleges, colleges, universities, and professional schools 612000 6112-6113

      6200

      Health care and social assistance 620000 62

      6220

      Hospitals 622000 622

      6230

      Nursing and residential care facilities 623000 623

      6231

      Nursing care facilities 623100 6231

      7000

      Leisure and hospitality 700000 71-72

      7200

      Accommodation and food services 720000 72

      8100

      Other services (except public administration) 810000 81

      9200

      Public administration 920000 92

      G000

      Goods producing G00000 21, 23, 31-33

      S000

      Service providing S00000 22, 42-92
  6. Occupation (FFF) 
    • Workers are classified into occupations using the Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system.
      Table 4. Occupation codes
      Series ID Code Occupation NCS Code SOC Code

      000

      All workers 000000 11-53

      110

      Management, business, and financial occupations 111300 11-13

      100

      Management, professional and related occupations 112900 11-29

      120

      Professional and related occupations 152900 15-29

      12A

      Teachers 250001 251-253

      12C

      Primary, secondary, and special education school teachers 252000 252

      12N

      Registered nurses 291111 29114

      300

      Service occupations 313900 31-39

      210

      Sales and related occupations 410000 41

      200

      Sales and office occupations 414300 41-43

      220

      Office and administrative support occupations 430000 43

      405

      Construction, and extraction, farming, fishing, and forestry occupations 454700 45-47

      400

      Natural resources, construction, and maintenance occupations 454900 45-49

      420

      Construction and extraction occupations 470000 45

      430

      Installation, maintenance, and repair occupations 490000 49

      510

      Production occupations 510000 51

      500

      Production, transportation, and material moving occupations 515300 51-53

      520

      Transportation and material moving occupations 530000 53
  7. Subcell (GGG) 
    • Category identifying the attributes of workers or establishments for the estimate.
      Table 5. Subcell codes
      Series ID Code Characteristic

      000

      All workers

      110

      Less than 100 workers

      111

      Less than 50 workers

      112

      50-99 workers

      120

      100 workers or more

      121

      100-499 workers

      122

      500 workers or more

      510

      Union

      520

      Nonunion

      610

      Full time

      620

      Part time

      210

      Northeast census region

      220

      South census region

      230

      Midwest census region

      240

      West census region

      233

      East North Central census division

      226

      East South Central census division

      212

      Middle Atlantic census division

      248

      Mountain census division

      211

      New England census division

      249

      Pacific census division

      225

      South Atlantic census division

      234

      West North Central census division

      227

      West South Central census division

      0LB*

      Boston-Worcester-Providence, MA-RI-NH-CT CSA

      0LJ*

      Philadelphia-Reading-Camden, PA-NJ-DE-MD CSA

      0LI*

      New York-Newark, NY-NJ-CT-PA CSA

      0LA*

      Atlanta-Athens-Clarke County-Sandy Springs, GA CSA

      0LN*

      Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Port St. Lucie, FL CSA

      0LM*

      Washington-Baltimore-Arlington, DC-MD-VA-WV-PA CSA

      0LD*

      Dallas-Fort Worth, TX-OK CSA

      0LF*

      Houston-The Woodlands, TX CSA

      0LC*

      Chicago-Naperville, IL-IN-WI CSA

      0LE*

      Detroit-Warren-Ann Arbor, MI CSA

      0LH*

      Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN-WI CSA

      0LO*

      Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ MSA

      0LG*

      Los Angeles-Long Beach, CA CSA

      0LK*

      San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, CA CSA

      0LL*

      Seattle-Tacoma, WA CSA

      310**

      Metropolitan

      320**

      Nonmetropolitan

      *Metropolitan area estimates only provided with the March data release.

      **Discontinued

  8. Datatype (H) 
    • Table 6. Datatype codes
      Series ID Code Datatype

      D

      Cost of compensation (Cost per hour worked)

      L*

      Average employer cost per employee hour worked at 50th percentile (median), constant dollar

      M*

      Average employer cost per employee worked at 50th percentile (median), current dollar

      N*

      Average employer cost per employee hour worked at 90th percentile, current dollar

      P

      Percent of total compensation

      R*

      Average employer cost per employee hour worked at 90th percentile, constant dollar

      T*

      Average employer cost per employee hour worked at 10th percentile, current dollar

      X*

      Average employer cost per employee hour worked at 10th percentile, constant dollar

      *Percentile Estimates only provided with the March data release

While it is easy to break a series down like this, it’s also important to know that not all combination of series ID codes will result in a published series. Not all possible estimate combinations are published; some estimates are only available for certain ownerships, industry groups, etc.

Example

Here is a breakout of the series ID for the employer cost of wages and salaries for union retail trade workers in the private sector:

CMU2024120000510D

CM: ECEC

U: not seasonally adjusted

2: private industry

02: wages and salaries

4120: retail trade

000: all occupations

510: union workers

D: cost of compensation

For More Information

Each BLS series has a unique series ID, and while many have the same components, most have different codes. To find a series ID format for a different BLS program, see the Series ID Format page.

For more information on the Employer Cost for Employee Compensation (ECEC): data can be found in table form or through the database search tools, factsheets provide information on key concepts, and the Handbook of Methods can provide more information on all National Compensation Survey (NCS) products.