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Employment Cost Index
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The National Compensation Survey produces quarterly indexes measuring change over time in labor costs, Employment Cost Index (ECI), and quarterly data measuring level of average costs per hour worked, Employer Costs for Employee Compensation (ECEC).
Notices
- 2023 Seasonal factors and seasonal revision scheduled for release with March 2023 ECI Read More »
- Redesign of Employment Cost Webpages Read More »
Charts
Compensation in private industry and state and local government, 12-month percent change, not seasonally adjusted
Month
Private industry
Government
Mar 2006
2.6%
3.7%
June 2006
2.8%
3.8%
Sept 2006
3.0%
4.1%
Dec 2006
3.2%
4.1%
Mar 2007
3.2%
4.6%
June 2007
3.1%
4.8%
Sept 2007
3.1%
4.3%
Dec 2007
3.0%
4.1%
Mar 2008
3.2%
3.6%
June 2008
3.0%
3.5%
Sept 2008
2.8%
3.4%
Dec 2008
2.4%
3.0%
Mar 2009
1.9%
3.1%
June 2009
1.5%
3.1%
Sept 2009
1.2%
2.3%
Dec 2009
1.2%
2.3%
Mar 2010
1.6%
2.0%
June 2010
1.9%
1.7%
Sept 2010
2.0%
1.8%
Dec 2010
2.1%
1.8%
Mar 2011
2.0%
1.8%
June 2011
2.3%
1.7%
Sept 2011
2.1%
1.5%
Dec 2011
2.2%
1.3%
Mar 2012
2.1%
1.5%
June 2012
1.8%
1.6%
Sept 2012
1.9%
1.8%
Dec 2012
1.8%
1.9%
Mar 2013
1.9%
1.9%
June 2013
1.9%
1.8%
Sept 2013
1.9%
1.7%
Dec 2013
2.0%
1.9%
Mar 2014
1.7%
1.9%
June 2014
2.0%
2.0%
Sept 2014
2.3%
2.1%
Dec 2014
2.3%
2.0%
Mar 2015
2.8%
2.1%
June 2015
1.9%
2.2%
Sept 2015
1.9%
2.3%
Dec 2015
1.9%
2.5%
Mar 2016
1.8%
2.4%
June 2016
2.4%
2.3%
Sept 2016
2.3%
2.6%
Dec 2016
2.2%
2.4%
Mar 2017
2.3%
2.6%
June 2017
2.4%
2.6%
Sept 2017
2.5%
2.4%
Dec 2017
2.6%
2.5%
Mar 2018
2.8%
2.2%
June 2018
2.9%
2.3%
Sept 2018
2.9%
2.5%
Dec 2018
3.0%
2.6%
Mar 2019
2.8%
3.0%
June 2019
2.6%
3.0%
Sept 2019
2.7%
3.1%
Dec 2019
2.7%
2.9%
Mar 2020
2.8%
2.8%
June 2020
2.7%
2.7%
Sept 2020
2.4%
2.3%
Dec 2020
2.6%
2.3%
Mar 2021
2.8%
2.0%
June 2021
3.1%
2.0%
Sept 2021
4.1%
2.3%
Dec 2021
4.4%
2.6%
Mar 2022
4.8%
3.2%
June 2022
5.5%
3.4%
Sept 2022
5.2%
4.6%
Dec 2022
5.1%
4.8%
Mar 2023
4.8%
4.9%
Latest Numbers
EMPLOYMENT COST INDEX (ECI) 
TOTAL COMPENSATION: 3-month % change (SA)
Civilian workers
1.2% in 1st Qtr of 2023
Private industry workers
1.2% in 1st Qtr of 2023
State and local government workers
1.1% in 1st Qtr of 2023
TOTAL COMPENSATION: 12-month % change (NSA)
Civilian workers
4.8% in 1st Qtr of 2023
Private industry workers
4.8% in 1st Qtr of 2023
State and local government workers
4.9% in 1st Qtr of 2023
EMPLOYER COSTS FOR EMPLOYEE COMPENSATION (ECEC)
Total compensation: per hour worked
Civilian workers
$42.48 in 4th Qtr of 2022
Private industry workers
$40.23 in 4th Qtr of 2022
State and local government workers
$57.60 in 4th Qtr of 2022
Historical Data
News Release
SA - Seasonally Adjusted
NSA - Not Seasonally Adjusted
Videos
How the Employment Cost Index Is Used?
The Employment Cost Index, or ECI, measures changes in the cost of employees to employers over time. In the private sector, business owners and human resources professionals can use the ECI to make decisions about pay adjustments to help them stay competitive. In the public sector, the Federal Reserve and others use the ECI to gauge the health of the labor market, adjust contracts, and research the labor market. read more »
News Releases
Compensation costs up 1.2% Dec 2022 to Mar 2023 and up 4.8% over the year ending Mar 2023
04/28/2023
Compensation costs increased 1.2 percent for civilian workers, seasonally adjusted, from December 2022 to March 2023. Over the year, total compensation rose 4.8 percent, wages and salaries rose 5.0 percent, and benefit costs rose 4.5 percent.
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Charts
Benefit costs for private industry workers average $11.86 per hour worked in Dec 2022
read more »
03/17/2023
Wage and salary costs for private industry workers averaged $28.37 per hour worked. Retirement and savings costs averaged $1.36 per hour worked and accounted for 3.4 percent of total compensation costs.
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Next Release
The Employment Cost Index (ECI) for
June 2023
is scheduled to be released on
July 28, 2023
at 8:30 A.M. Eastern Time.
The Employer Costs for Employee Compensation (ECEC) March 2023 is scheduled to be released on June 16, 2023 at 10:00 A.M. Eastern Time.
The Employer Costs for Employee Compensation (ECEC) March 2023 is scheduled to be released on June 16, 2023 at 10:00 A.M. Eastern Time.
Publications
The Economics Daily
Compensation costs for civilian workers averaged $42.48 per hour worked in December 2022
Total employer compensation costs for civilian workers averaged $42.48 per hour worked in December 2022. Wages and salaries cost employers $29.32 and accounted for 69.0 percent of total costs, while benefits cost $13.17 and accounted for the remaining 31.0 percent. read more »
Monthly Labor Review
The Linked Employment Cost Index: a first look and estimation methodology
This article provides a first look at the Linked Employment Cost Index, an index the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics is evaluating for potential publication. read more »