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United States Department of Labor
Compensation costs for private industry workers up 3.0 percent in 2018
February 04, 2019
In December 2018, compensation costs for private industry workers increased 3.0 percent over the year, compared with an increase of 2.6 percent in December 2017. Over the year ending December 2018, wages and salaries increased 3.1 percent, and employer costs for benefits rose 2.6 percent. Employer costs for health benefits increased 1.8 percent for the year ending December 2018.
| Month | Private industry | Government |
|---|---|---|
|
Mar 2006 |
2.6% | 3.7% |
|
Jun 2006 |
2.8 | 3.8 |
|
Sep 2006 |
3.0 | 4.1 |
|
Dec 2006 |
3.2 | 4.1 |
|
Mar 2007 |
3.2 | 4.6 |
|
Jun 2007 |
3.1 | 4.8 |
|
Sep 2007 |
3.1 | 4.3 |
|
Dec 2007 |
3.0 | 4.1 |
|
Mar 2008 |
3.2 | 3.6 |
|
Jun 2008 |
3.0 | 3.5 |
|
Sep 2008 |
2.8 | 3.4 |
|
Dec 2008 |
2.4 | 3.0 |
|
Mar 2009 |
1.9 | 3.1 |
|
Jun 2009 |
1.5 | 3.1 |
|
Sep 2009 |
1.2 | 2.3 |
|
Dec 2009 |
1.2 | 2.3 |
|
Mar 2010 |
1.6 | 2.0 |
|
Jun 2010 |
1.9 | 1.7 |
|
Sep 2010 |
2.0 | 1.8 |
|
Dec 2010 |
2.1 | 1.8 |
|
Mar 2011 |
2.0 | 1.8 |
|
Jun 2011 |
2.3 | 1.7 |
|
Sep 2011 |
2.1 | 1.5 |
|
Dec 2011 |
2.2 | 1.3 |
|
Mar 2012 |
2.1 | 1.5 |
|
Jun 2012 |
1.8 | 1.6 |
|
Sep 2012 |
1.9 | 1.8 |
|
Dec 2012 |
1.8 | 1.9 |
|
Mar 2013 |
1.9 | 1.9 |
|
Jun 2013 |
1.9 | 1.8 |
|
Sep 2013 |
1.9 | 1.7 |
|
Dec 2013 |
2.0 | 1.9 |
|
Mar 2014 |
1.7 | 1.9 |
|
Jun 2014 |
2.0 | 2.0 |
|
Sep 2014 |
2.3 | 2.1 |
|
Dec 2014 |
2.3 | 2.0 |
|
Mar 2015 |
2.8 | 2.1 |
|
Jun 2015 |
1.9 | 2.2 |
|
Sep 2015 |
1.9 | 2.3 |
|
Dec 2015 |
1.9 | 2.5 |
|
Mar 2016 |
1.8 | 2.4 |
|
Jun 2016 |
2.4 | 2.3 |
|
Sep 2016 |
2.3 | 2.6 |
|
Dec 2016 |
2.2 | 2.4 |
|
Mar 2017 |
2.3 | 2.6 |
|
Jun 2017 |
2.4 | 2.6 |
|
Sep 2017 |
2.5 | 2.4 |
|
Dec 2017 |
2.6 | 2.5 |
|
Mar 2018 |
2.8 | 2.2 |
|
Jun 2018 |
2.9 | 2.3 |
|
Sep 2018 |
2.9 | 2.5 |
|
Dec 2018 |
3.0 | 2.6 |
Compensation costs for state and local government workers increased 2.6 percent for the 12-month period ending in December 2018. In December 2017, the increase was 2.5 percent. Wages and salaries increased 2.4 percent for the 12-month period ending in December 2018, while benefit costs increased 3.1 percent.
These data are from the Employment Cost Trends program. To learn more, see “Employment Cost Index — December 2018.” We also have more charts on the Employment Cost Index.
SUGGESTED CITATION
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Compensation costs for private industry workers up 3.0 percent in 2018 on the Internet at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2019/compensation-costs-for-private-industry-workers-up-3-point-0-percent-in-2018.htm (visited January 18, 2020).
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