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Employment Cost Index
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Capturing the Full Compensation Package: a history of changes to benefits in the ECI
How do you measure a worker’s pay? Through a number of surveys coordinated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), a worker’s pay can be captured by an average wage, tips, commissions, bonuses, and many other monetary measures. The National Compensation Survey (NCS) focuses on the costs that employers incur when employing a worker. In order to capture the full compensation package provided to employees, the employer costs of benefits are also surveyed. Benefit cost data from the NCS is then published through the Employment Cost Index (ECI) and Employer Costs for Employee Compensation (ECEC).
The ECI measures the change in the hourly labor cost to employers over time. Growth in benefit costs can differ from wages as employers may use different compensation packages to attract and retain workers. Growth trends often differ by ownerships, industries, and occupations as well.
| Reference Period | Private industry | State and local government | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wages and salaries | Benefits | Wages and salaries | Benefits | |
|
Dec-15 |
2.1 | 1.3 | 1.8 | 3.5 |
|
Mar-16 |
2.0 | 1.2 | 1.8 | 3.5 |
|
Jun-16 |
2.6 | 1.7 | 1.7 | 3.4 |
|
Sep-16 |
2.4 | 1.8 | 2.0 | 3.7 |
|
Dec-16 |
2.3 | 1.8 | 2.1 | 3.1 |
|
Mar-17 |
2.6 | 1.9 | 2.2 | 3.1 |
|
Jun-17 |
2.4 | 2.2 | 2.1 | 3.2 |
|
Sep-17 |
2.6 | 2.4 | 2.0 | 3.0 |
|
Dec-17 |
2.8 | 2.3 | 2.1 | 3.2 |
|
Mar-18 |
2.9 | 2.5 | 1.8 | 3.0 |
|
Jun-18 |
2.9 | 2.8 | 1.9 | 3.1 |
|
Sep-18 |
3.1 | 2.5 | 2.3 | 3.1 |
|
Dec-18 |
3.1 | 2.6 | 2.4 | 3.1 |
|
Mar-19 |
3.0 | 2.4 | 2.5 | 3.6 |
|
Jun-19 |
3.0 | 1.8 | 2.5 | 3.6 |
|
Sep-19 |
3.0 | 2.0 | 2.7 | 3.5 |
|
Dec-19 |
3.0 | 1.9 | 2.5 | 3.3 |
|
Mar-20 |
3.3 | 1.6 | 2.7 | 3.3 |
|
Jun-20 |
2.9 | 2.0 | 2.6 | 3.1 |
|
Sep-20 |
2.7 | 2.0 | 1.8 | 3.2 |
|
Dec-20 |
2.8 | 2.1 | 1.8 | 3.1 |
|
Mar-21 |
3.0 | 2.5 | 1.6 | 2.6 |
|
Jun-21 |
3.5 | 2.0 | 1.6 | 2.6 |
|
Sep-21 |
4.6 | 2.6 | 2.4 | 2.1 |
|
Dec-21 |
5.0 | 2.9 | 2.7 | 2.5 |
|
Mar-22 |
5.0 | 4.1 | 3.1 | 3.5 |
|
Jun-22 |
5.7 | 5.3 | 3.2 | 3.6 |
|
Sep-22 |
5.2 | 5.0 | 4.4 | 5.0 |
|
Dec-22 |
5.1 | 4.8 | 4.7 | 5.0 |
|
Mar-23 |
5.1 | 4.3 | 4.7 | 5.0 |
|
Jun-23 |
4.6 | 3.9 | 4.7 | 5.2 |
|
Sep-23 |
4.5 | 3.9 | 4.8 | 4.7 |
|
Dec-23 |
4.3 | 3.6 | 4.7 | 4.6 |
|
Mar-24 |
4.3 | 3.6 | 5.0 | 4.5 |
|
Jun-24 |
4.1 | 3.5 | 5.1 | 4.8 |
|
Sep-24 |
3.8 | 3.3 | 4.6 | 4.8 |
|
Dec-24 |
3.7 | 3.3 | 4.5 | 4.9 |
|
Mar-25 |
3.4 | 3.5 | 4.1 | 4.8 |
|
Jun-25 |
3.5 | 3.4 | 3.9 | 4.1 |
|
Sep-25 |
3.6 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.8 |
|
Dec-25 |
3.3 | 3.4 | 3.3 | 3.5 |
|
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Cost Index (ECI). |
||||
Benefits are a significant portion of compensation. ECEC data shows that benefits typically account for roughly 30 percent of a total compensation package. However, this split can vary among ownerships, industries, occupations, bargaining status, and full-time/part-time status.
| Industry | Wages and salaries | Benefits |
|---|---|---|
|
Leisure and hospitality |
81.0 | 19.0 |
|
Trade, transportation, and utilities |
71.4 | 28.6 |
|
Education and health services |
70.9 | 29.1 |
|
All industries |
70.1 | 29.9 |
|
Construction |
69.7 | 30.3 |
|
Professional and business services |
69.4 | 30.6 |
|
Manufacturing |
66.9 | 33.1 |
|
Financial activities |
65.5 | 34.5 |
|
Information |
64.4 | 35.6 |
|
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employer Costs for Employee Compensation (ECEC). |
||
What benefits are included in the ECI?
The NCS collects employer costs for 18 benefits. These benefits are included in the total benefits indexes published by the ECI. Indexes for each individual benefit are not published with the exception of health insurance costs in the private industry, see "Tracking the Cost of Health Insurance Benefits using the ECI".
- Paid leave (vacation, holiday, sick, and personal leave)
- Supplemental pay (overtime and premium, shift differentials, and nonproduction bonuses)
- Insurance (life, health, short-term disability, and long-term disability)
- Retirement and savings (defined benefit and defined contribution)
- Legally required benefits (Social Security [refers to Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) program], Medicare, federal and state unemployment insurance, and workers’ compensation)
Employer benefit costs are captured as the cost per worker based on all who have access to a benefit plan. Every benefit cost is annualized and divided by the number of annual hours worked to derive a cost per hour per worker.
Benefit costs are captured in the ECI when the benefit is permanent and available to all employees or a class of employees. A benefit is permanent when the employer provides the benefit continuously. A temporary change in benefit offerings (e.g., extra vacation time provided to workers due to a workplace fire or the additional cost the employer incurs when paying the full medical coverage for all eligible workers during a flu outbreak) is not included.
History of changes in benefits definitions:
When the ECI was first published in 1976, only wage and salary data was captured. Benefits were first introduced to the ECI as a way fully capture the total compensation costs that employers pay. Over time the scope of benefits included in the ECI has changed to account for changing trends in compensation packages.
- March 1980: Benefits are introduced to the Employment Cost Index.▸
- Benefits were first introduced with the March 1980 ECI and included costs for:
- Hours related benefits: Premium pay for overtime and work on weekends and holidays, paid holidays, paid vacation, paid sick leave, and other paid leave;
- Supplemental pay: shift differentials, nonproduction bonuses, severance pay, and supplemental unemployment plans;
- Insurance: life, health, and sickness and accident insurance;
- Retirement and savings: pension and other retirement plans, and savings and thrift plans;
- Legally required benefits: Social Security, railroad retirement and supplemental retirement, railroad unemployment insurance, Federal and State unemployment insurance, workers’ compensation, and other legally requirement benefits such as State temporary disability insurance; and
- Other benefits: merchandise discounts in department stores.
- For more information on the introduction of benefits to the ECI, see "How benefits will be incorporated into the Employment Cost Index".
- June 2000: Definition of nonproduction bonuses is expanded.▸
- In addition to the traditional types of nonproduction bonuses such as attendance bonuses and lump sum payments, the definition was expanded to include hiring and referral bonuses. Hiring bonuses are payments made by the employer to induce an individual to accept employment; referral bonuses are payments made by the employer for recommending an applicant who is hired by the establishment.
- August 2003: Health insurance series introduced. ▸
- Historical data was provided back to March 1982, see "Tracking the Cost of Health Insurance Benefits using the ECI".
- March 2006: Severance pay and supplemental unemployment benefit plans are no longer collected.▸
- Severance pay and supplemental unemployment benefit plans, formerly included in total compensation and benefits, are no longer collected.
- June 2008: Other leave benefit estimates will include only paid personal leave. ▸
- Paid personal leave accounts for the majority of the cost of the overall other leave benefit category. The National Compensation Survey will no longer collect costs for paid military leave, paid funeral leave, paid jury leave, and paid family leave (access data will still be available on these benefits).
More information:
For a history of changes to the benefits provided through the Employer Costs for Employee Compensation (ECEC), see Keeping a Competitive Benefits Package: a history of changes to benefits in the ECEC.
For more information on the concepts and calculation methods of the ECI, see the Handbook of Methods.
Last Modified Date: April 22, 2026