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Compensation costs up 3.9 percent from September 2023 to September 2024
November 05, 2024
Compensation costs for civilian workers increased 3.9 percent for the 12 months ending September 2024, compared with an increase of 4.3 percent for the year ending in September 2023.
12-month percent changes in wages and salaries and benefits for civilian workers, September 2014 to September 2024
Month
Total compensation
Wages and salaries
Benefits
Sep 2014
2.2
2.1
2.4
Dec 2014
2.2
2.1
2.6
Mar 2015
2.6
2.6
2.7
Jun 2015
2.0
2.1
1.8
Sep 2015
2.0
2.1
1.8
Dec 2015
2.0
2.1
1.7
Mar 2016
1.9
2.0
1.7
Jun 2016
2.3
2.5
2.0
Sep 2016
2.3
2.4
2.3
Dec 2016
2.2
2.3
2.1
Mar 2017
2.4
2.5
2.2
Jun 2017
2.4
2.3
2.5
Sep 2017
2.5
2.5
2.4
Dec 2017
2.6
2.5
2.5
Mar 2018
2.7
2.7
2.6
Jun 2018
2.8
2.8
2.9
Sep 2018
2.8
2.9
2.6
Dec 2018
2.9
3.1
2.8
Mar 2019
2.8
2.9
2.6
Jun 2019
2.7
2.9
2.3
Sep 2019
2.8
2.9
2.3
Dec 2019
2.7
2.9
2.2
Mar 2020
2.8
3.1
2.1
Jun 2020
2.7
2.9
2.2
Sep 2020
2.4
2.5
2.3
Dec 2020
2.5
2.6
2.3
Mar 2021
2.6
2.7
2.5
Jun 2021
2.9
3.2
2.2
Sep 2021
3.7
4.2
2.5
Dec 2021
4.0
4.5
2.8
Mar 2022
4.5
4.7
4.1
Jun 2022
5.1
5.3
4.8
Sep 2022
5.0
5.1
4.9
Dec 2022
5.1
5.1
4.9
Mar 2023
4.8
5.0
4.5
Jun 2023
4.5
4.6
4.2
Sep 2023
4.3
4.6
4.1
Dec 2023
4.2
4.3
3.8
Mar 2024
4.2
4.4
3.7
Jun 2024
4.1
4.2
3.8
Sep 2024
3.9
3.9
3.7
Note: Data are not seasonally adjusted
Wages and salaries were up 3.9 percent for the 12 months ending in September 2024 after rising 4.6 percent for the same period ending September 2023. Costs for benefits rose 3.7 percent in September 2024 following a 4.1-percent increase in the prior year.
The most recent numbers reflect the continued slowing of compensation cost increases since mid-2022.
These data are from the Employment Cost Index program and are not seasonally adjusted. To learn more, see "Employment Cost Index — September 2024." We also have more charts on the Employment Cost Index. Civilian workers are defined as all private industry workers plus all state and local government workers. Total compensation costs are the sum of wages and salaries plus benefits costs.
United States Department of Labor
