PRINT:

50 years of the Employment Cost Index

June 18, 2026

The Employment Cost Index (ECI) issued its first news release 50 years ago today, covering wage and salary changes from September 1975 to March 1976. For the first time, the ECI provided a measure of compensation costs unaffected by shifts in relative employment levels in different industries, occupations, and geographic areas.

Chart Image
Chart Data

12-month percent change in compensation costs for private industry workers, current dollars, 1976 to 2026
Date	Total compensation	Wages and salaries	Benefits
Sep 1976		7.2
Dec 1976		7.4
Mar 1977		6.9
Jun 1977		6.8
Sep 1977		7.1
Dec 1977		6.9
Mar 1978		7.5
Jun 1978		7.7
Sep 1978		7.9
Dec 1978		7.4
Mar 1979		7.6
Jun 1979		7.8
Sep 1979		8.0
Dec 1979		8.7
Mar 1980		9.1
Jun 1980		9.0
Sep 1980		9.3
Dec 1980	9.5	9.1	11.7
Mar 1981	10.7	9.2	14.3
Jun 1981	10.2	9.5	12.8
Sep 1981	9.9	9.1	12.1
Dec 1981	10.0	8.6	12.2
Mar 1982	7.8	8.2	6.9
Jun 1982	7.4	7.0	7.4
Sep 1982	7.2	6.9	7.9
Dec 1982	6.3	6.3	7.1
Mar 1983	6.5	5.5	9.2
Jun 1983	6.1	5.4	8.4
Sep 1983	5.5	4.9	7.6
Dec 1983	5.7	5.1	7.5
Mar 1984	5.9	5.0	7.3
Jun 1984	5.6	4.7	7.2
Sep 1984	5.0	4.2	6.6
Dec 1984	5.0	4.2	6.5
Mar 1985	4.2	4.1	5.5
Jun 1985	4.2	4.3	4.1
Sep 1985	4.6	4.7	4.4
Dec 1985	3.9	4.0	3.5
Mar 1986	3.8	3.8	3.2
Jun 1986	3.8	3.7	3.5
Sep 1986	3.1	3.3	3.2
Dec 1986	3.1	3.3	3.4
Mar 1987	3.1	3.3	2.7
Jun 1987	3.0	2.8	3.4
Sep 1987	3.4	3.2	3.1
Dec 1987	3.4	3.2	3.3
Mar 1988	4.0	3.3	5.9
Jun 1988	4.3	3.9	6.5
Sep 1988	4.3	3.6	6.9
Dec 1988	4.8	4.2	6.9
Mar 1989	4.6	4.1	5.5
Jun 1989	4.5	4.1	5.5
Sep 1989	4.9	4.4	5.8
Dec 1989	4.8	4.2	6.2
Mar 1990	5.1	4.3	7.1
Jun 1990	5.2	4.4	7.0
Sep 1990	5.0	4.2	6.7
Dec 1990	4.6	4.0	6.7
Mar 1991	4.3	4.0	5.7
Jun 1991	4.5	3.8	6.2
Sep 1991	4.4	3.6	6.5
Dec 1991	4.4	3.7	6.2
Mar 1992	4.3	3.3	6.3
Jun 1992	3.6	3.0	5.5
Sep 1992	3.4	2.7	5.2
Dec 1992	3.6	2.6	5.2
Mar 1993	3.5	2.6	5.6
Jun 1993	3.6	2.7	5.7
Sep 1993	3.8	3.2	5.3
Dec 1993	3.6	3.0	4.9
Mar 1994	3.4	3.0	4.5
Jun 1994	3.4	3.0	4.1
Sep 1994	3.3	2.9	4.1
Dec 1994	3.2	2.8	3.7
Mar 1995	2.8	2.9	2.8
Jun 1995	2.8	2.9	2.5
Sep 1995	2.6	2.7	2.0
Dec 1995	2.5	2.8	2.2
Mar 1996	2.8	3.1	1.5
Jun 1996	2.9	3.4	1.7
Sep 1996	2.9	3.3	1.8
Dec 1996	3.1	3.5	2.0
Mar 1997	3.0	3.4	2.1
Jun 1997	2.9	3.3	2.0
Sep 1997	3.1	3.6	2.1
Dec 1997	3.5	3.9	2.2
Mar 1998	3.6	4.0	2.2
Jun 1998	3.5	4.1	2.7
Sep 1998	3.9	4.3	2.5
Dec 1998	3.5	3.9	2.5
Mar 1999	2.9	3.2	2.3
Jun 1999	3.3	3.5	2.4
Sep 1999	3.0	3.1	2.9
Dec 1999	3.5	3.6	3.4
Mar 2000	4.6	4.2	5.4
Jun 2000	4.6	4.0	5.8
Sep 2000	4.7	4.2	6.0
Dec 2000	4.2	3.8	5.6
Mar 2001	4.2	3.9	5.1
Jun 2001	4.0	3.9	4.8
Sep 2001	4.0	3.6	4.9
Dec 2001	4.2	3.8	5.1
Mar 2002	3.9	3.5	4.7
Jun 2002	4.1	3.5	5.1
Sep 2002	3.7	3.1	4.9
Dec 2002	3.3	2.7	4.7
Mar 2003	3.9	3.0	6.1
Jun 2003	3.5	2.6	6.2
Sep 2003	4.0	3.0	6.5
Dec 2003	4.0	3.0	6.4
Mar 2004	3.8	2.6	7.0
Jun 2004	4.0	2.6	7.3
Sep 2004	3.8	2.6	6.8
Dec 2004	3.7	2.4	6.9
Mar 2005	3.4	2.4	5.8
Jun 2005	3.1	2.4	4.9
Sep 2005	3.0	2.2	4.8
Dec 2005	3.0	2.6	4.2
Mar 2006	2.6	2.4	3.0
Jun 2006	2.8	2.8	2.7
Sep 2006	3.0	3.0	2.8
Dec 2006	3.2	3.2	3.1
Mar 2007	3.2	3.6	2.2
Jun 2007	3.1	3.3	2.6
Sep 2007	3.1	3.4	2.4
Dec 2007	3.0	3.3	2.4
Mar 2008	3.2	3.2	3.2
Jun 2008	3.0	3.1	2.6
Sep 2008	2.8	2.9	2.4
Dec 2008	2.4	2.6	2.0
Mar 2009	1.9	2.0	1.6
Jun 2009	1.5	1.6	1.3
Sep 2009	1.2	1.4	1.1
Dec 2009	1.2	1.3	0.9
Mar 2010	1.6	1.5	2.0
Jun 2010	1.9	1.6	2.4
Sep 2010	2.0	1.6	2.8
Dec 2010	2.1	1.8	2.9
Mar 2011	2.0	1.6	3.0
Jun 2011	2.3	1.7	4.0
Sep 2011	2.1	1.7	3.3
Dec 2011	2.2	1.6	3.6
Mar 2012	2.1	1.9	2.8
Jun 2012	1.8	1.8	1.9
Sep 2012	1.9	1.8	2.2
Dec 2012	1.8	1.7	2.0
Mar 2013	1.9	1.7	2.0
Jun 2013	1.9	1.9	1.9
Sep 2013	1.9	1.8	2.0
Dec 2013	2.0	2.1	1.9
Mar 2014	1.7	1.7	1.8
Jun 2014	2.0	1.9	2.4
Sep 2014	2.3	2.3	2.3
Dec 2014	2.3	2.2	2.5
Mar 2015	2.8	2.8	2.6
Jun 2015	1.9	2.2	1.4
Sep 2015	1.9	2.1	1.4
Dec 2015	1.9	2.1	1.3
Mar 2016	1.8	2.0	1.2
Jun 2016	2.4	2.6	1.7
Sep 2016	2.3	2.4	1.8
Dec 2016	2.2	2.3	1.8
Mar 2017	2.3	2.6	1.9
Jun 2017	2.4	2.4	2.2
Sep 2017	2.5	2.6	2.4
Dec 2017	2.6	2.8	2.3
Mar 2018	2.8	2.9	2.5
Jun 2018	2.9	2.9	2.8
Sep 2018	2.9	3.1	2.5
Dec 2018	3.0	3.1	2.6
Mar 2019	2.8	3.0	2.4
Jun 2019	2.6	3.0	1.8
Sep 2019	2.7	3.0	2.0
Dec 2019	2.7	3.0	1.9
Mar 2020	2.8	3.3	1.6
Jun 2020	2.7	2.9	2.0
Sep 2020	2.4	2.7	2.0
Dec 2020	2.6	2.8	2.1
Mar 2021	2.8	3.0	2.5
Jun 2021	3.1	3.5	2.0
Sep 2021	4.1	4.6	2.6
Dec 2021	4.4	5.0	2.9
Mar 2022	4.8	5.0	4.1
Jun 2022	5.5	5.7	5.3
Sep 2022	5.2	5.2	5.0
Dec 2022	5.1	5.1	4.8
Mar 2023	4.8	5.1	4.3
Jun 2023	4.5	4.6	3.9
Sep 2023	4.3	4.5	3.9
Dec 2023	4.1	4.3	3.6
Mar 2024	4.1	4.3	3.6
Jun 2024	3.9	4.1	3.5
Sep 2024	3.6	3.8	3.3
Dec 2024	3.6	3.7	3.3
Mar 2025	3.4	3.4	3.5
Jun 2025	3.5	3.5	3.4
Sep 2025	3.5	3.6	3.5
Dec 2025	3.4	3.3	3.4
Mar 2026	3.4	3.4	3.6
Note: Data are not seasonally adjusted.

In the late 1970s, 12-month percent changes in costs for wages and salaries exceeded 6 percent for private industry workers. More recently, from March 2025 to March 2026, wages and salaries rose 3.4 percent. The current dollar index for wages and salaries for private industry workers was 26.4 in September 1975 and 177.672 in March 2026—a 573.0 percent growth in the past five decades.

Chart Image
Chart Data

Employment cost indexes for private industry workers, 1975 to 2026, current dollars
Date	Total Compensation	Wages and salaries	Benefits
Sep 1975		26.4
Dec 1975		26.9
Mar 1976		27.4
Jun 1976		27.9
Sep 1976		28.3
Dec 1976		28.9
Mar 1977		29.3
Jun 1977		29.8
Sep 1977		30.3
Dec 1977		30.9
Mar 1978		31.5
Jun 1978		32.1
Sep 1978		32.7
Dec 1978		33.2
Mar 1979		33.9
Jun 1979		34.6
Sep 1979		35.3
Dec 1979	32.8	36.1	25.7
Mar 1980	33.6	37.0	26.6
Jun 1980	34.4	37.7	27.4
Sep 1980	35.2	38.6	28.1
Dec 1980	35.9	39.4	28.7
Mar 1981	37.2	40.4	30.4
Jun 1981	37.9	41.3	30.9
Sep 1981	38.7	42.1	31.5
Dec 1981	39.5	42.8	32.2
Mar 1982	40.1	43.7	32.5
Jun 1982	40.7	44.2	33.2
Sep 1982	41.5	45.0	34.0
Dec 1982	42.0	45.5	34.5
Mar 1983	42.7	46.1	35.5
Jun 1983	43.2	46.6	36.0
Sep 1983	43.8	47.2	36.6
Dec 1983	44.4	47.8	37.1
Mar 1984	45.2	48.4	38.1
Jun 1984	45.6	48.8	38.6
Sep 1984	46.0	49.2	39.0
Dec 1984	46.6	49.8	39.5
Mar 1985	47.1	50.4	40.2
Jun 1985	47.5	50.9	40.2
Sep 1985	48.1	51.5	40.7
Dec 1985	48.4	51.8	40.9
Mar 1986	48.9	52.3	41.5
Jun 1986	49.3	52.8	41.6
Sep 1986	49.6	53.2	42.0
Dec 1986	49.9	53.5	42.3
Mar 1987	50.4	54.0	42.6
Jun 1987	50.8	54.3	43.0
Sep 1987	51.3	54.9	43.3
Dec 1987	51.6	55.2	43.7
Mar 1988	52.4	55.8	45.1
Jun 1988	53.0	56.4	45.8
Sep 1988	53.5	56.9	46.3
Dec 1988	54.1	57.5	46.7
Mar 1989	54.8	58.1	47.6
Jun 1989	55.4	58.7	48.3
Sep 1989	56.1	59.4	49.0
Dec 1989	56.7	59.9	49.6
Mar 1990	57.6	60.6	51.0
Jun 1990	58.3	61.3	51.7
Sep 1990	58.9	61.9	52.3
Dec 1990	59.3	62.3	52.9
Mar 1991	60.1	63.0	53.9
Jun 1991	60.9	63.6	54.9
Sep 1991	61.5	64.1	55.7
Dec 1991	61.9	64.6	56.2
Mar 1992	62.7	65.1	57.3
Jun 1992	63.1	65.5	57.9
Sep 1992	63.6	65.8	58.6
Dec 1992	64.1	66.3	59.1
Mar 1993	64.9	66.8	60.5
Jun 1993	65.4	67.3	61.2
Sep 1993	66.0	67.9	61.7
Dec 1993	66.4	68.3	62.0
Mar 1994	67.1	68.8	63.2
Jun 1994	67.6	69.3	63.7
Sep 1994	68.2	69.9	64.2
Dec 1994	68.5	70.2	64.3
Mar 1995	69.0	70.8	65.0
Jun 1995	69.5	71.3	65.3
Sep 1995	70.0	71.8	65.5
Dec 1995	70.2	72.2	65.7
Mar 1996	70.9	73.0	66.0
Jun 1996	71.5	73.7	66.4
Sep 1996	72.0	74.2	66.7
Dec 1996	72.4	74.7	67.0
Mar 1997	73.0	75.5	67.4
Jun 1997	73.6	76.1	67.7
Sep 1997	74.2	76.9	68.1
Dec 1997	74.9	77.6	68.5
Mar 1998	75.6	78.5	68.9
Jun 1998	76.2	79.2	69.5
Sep 1998	77.1	80.2	69.8
Dec 1998	77.5	80.6	70.2
Mar 1999	77.8	81.0	70.5
Jun 1999	78.7	82.0	71.2
Sep 1999	79.4	82.7	71.8
Dec 1999	80.2	83.5	72.6
Mar 2000	81.4	84.4	74.3
Jun 2000	82.3	85.3	75.3
Sep 2000	83.1	86.2	76.1
Dec 2000	83.6	86.7	76.7
Mar 2001	84.8	87.7	78.1
Jun 2001	85.6	88.6	78.9
Sep 2001	86.4	89.3	79.8
Dec 2001	87.1	90.0	80.6
Mar 2002	88.1	90.8	81.8
Jun 2002	89.1	91.7	82.9
Sep 2002	89.6	92.1	83.7
Dec 2002	90.0	92.4	84.4
Mar 2003	91.5	93.5	86.8
Jun 2003	92.2	94.1	88.0
Sep 2003	93.2	94.9	89.1
Dec 2003	93.6	95.2	89.8
Mar 2004	95.0	95.9	92.9
Jun 2004	95.9	96.5	94.4
Sep 2004	96.7	97.4	95.2
Dec 2004	97.1	97.5	96.0
Mar 2005	98.2	98.2	98.3
Jun 2005	98.9	98.8	99.0
Sep 2005	99.6	99.5	99.8
Dec 2005	100.0	100.0	100.0
Mar 2006	100.8	100.7	101.0
Jun 2006	101.7	101.7	101.7
Sep 2006	102.5	102.5	102.5
Dec 2006	103.2	103.2	103.1
Mar 2007	104.0	104.3	103.2
Jun 2007	104.9	105.1	104.3
Sep 2007	105.7	106.0	105.0
Dec 2007	106.3	106.6	105.6
Mar 2008	107.3	107.6	106.5
Jun 2008	108.0	108.4	107.0
Sep 2008	108.7	109.1	107.5
Dec 2008	108.9	109.4	107.7
Mar 2009	109.3	109.8	108.2
Jun 2009	109.6	110.1	108.4
Sep 2009	110.0	110.6	108.7
Dec 2009	110.2	110.8	108.7
Mar 2010	111.1	111.4	110.4
Jun 2010	111.7	111.9	111.0
Sep 2010	112.2	112.4	111.7
Dec 2010	112.5	112.8	111.9
Mar 2011	113.3	113.2	113.7
Jun 2011	114.3	113.8	115.4
Sep 2011	114.6	114.3	115.4
Dec 2011	115.0	114.6	115.9
Mar 2012	115.7	115.3	116.9
Jun 2012	116.4	115.9	117.6
Sep 2012	116.8	116.4	117.9
Dec 2012	117.1	116.6	118.2
Mar 2013	117.9	117.3	119.2
Jun 2013	118.6	118.1	119.8
Sep 2013	119.0	118.5	120.3
Dec 2013	119.4	119.0	120.5
Mar 2014	119.9	119.3	121.4
Jun 2014	121.0	120.3	122.7
Sep 2014	121.7	121.2	123.1
Dec 2014	122.2	121.6	123.5
Mar 2015	123.2	122.6	124.5
Jun 2015	123.3	122.9	124.4
Sep 2015	124.0	123.7	124.8
Dec 2015	124.5	124.2	125.1
Mar 2016	125.4	125.1	126.0
Jun 2016	126.2	126.1	126.5
Sep 2016	126.8	126.7	127.0
Dec 2016	127.2	127.1	127.3
Mar 2017	128.3	128.3	128.4
Jun 2017	129.2	129.1	129.3
Sep 2017	130.0	130.0	130.0
Dec 2017	130.5	130.6	130.2
Mar 2018	131.9	132.0	131.6
Jun 2018	132.9	132.9	132.9
Sep 2018	133.8	134.0	133.2
Dec 2018	134.4	134.7	133.6
Mar 2019	135.6	135.9	134.7
Jun 2019	136.4	136.9	135.3
Sep 2019	137.4	138.0	135.8
Dec 2019	138.0	138.7	136.2
Mar 2020	139.4	140.4	136.9
Jun 2020	140.1	140.9	138.0
Sep 2020	140.7	141.7	138.5
Dec 2020	141.6	142.6	139.1
Mar 2021	143.3	144.6	140.3
Jun 2021	144.4	145.9	140.8
Sep 2021	146.4	148.2	142.1
Dec 2021	147.8	149.7	143.2
Mar 2022	150.2	151.8	146.1
Jun 2022	152.4	154.2	148.2
Sep 2022	154.0	155.9	149.2
Dec 2022	155.3	157.4	150.1
Mar 2023	157.4	159.5	152.4
Jun 2023	159.2	161.3	154.0
Sep 2023	160.6	162.9	155.0
Dec 2023	161.6	164.1	155.5
Mar 2024	163.8	166.3	157.9
Jun 2024	165.4	167.9	159.4
Sep 2024	166.4	169.1	160.1
Dec 2024	167.4	170.2	160.7
Mar 2025	169.4	171.9	163.5
Jun 2025	171.181	173.849	164.815
Sep 2025	172.307	175.109	165.630
Dec 2025	173.017	175.885	166.191
Mar 2026	175.210	177.672	169.305
Note: Data are not seasonally adjusted.

Benefit cost indexes were not available until the September 1987 news release, however historical data back to 1979 was calculated and provided. As of March 2026, employers’ costs for benefits had risen 558.8 percent from December 1979.

These data are from the Employment Cost Index and are not seasonally adjusted. We also have historical news releases, charts, and the continuous dataset available.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, 50 years of the Employment Cost Index at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2026/50-years-of-the-employment-cost-index.htm (visited June 18, 2026).

OF INTEREST