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.

Publication Prefix (AA) ▸
- Every BLS database uses a unique prefix to identify the specific publication. ECEC Series are labeled CM. Other National Compensation Survey series prefixes include CI for the Employment Cost Index and WM for the Modeled Wage Estimates; others can be found on the Series ID Format page.
Seasonal adjustment (B) ▸
- The ECEC does not contain any seasonally adjusted series so this code will always read “U” for not seasonally adjusted.
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

Table 1. Ownership codes
Series ID Code	Ownership
1	Civilian Workers
2	Private Industry Workers
3	State and Local Government Workers

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

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

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

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 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-AL CSA
0LN*	Miami-Port St. Lucie-Fort Lauderdale, FL CSA
0LM*	Washington-Baltimore-Arlington, DC-MD-VA-WV-PA CSA
0LD*	Dallas-Fort Worth, TX-OK CSA
0LF*	Houston-Pasadena, 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, AZ CSA
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

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, and the Handbook of Methods and factsheets provide information on key concepts.