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Compensation costs for private industry workers up 3.3 percent over the year ended June 2026
August 05, 2026
Compensation costs for private industry workers increased 3.3 percent from June 2025 to June 2026. The 12-month change in private industry compensation costs was 3.5 percent in June 2025 and 3.9 percent in June 2024. Since 2016, increases in compensation costs have ranged from 1.8 percent (in March 2016) to 5.5 percent (June 2022) over the year.
| Month | Total compensation | Wages and salaries | Total benefits |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| Jun 2026 | 3.3 | 3.1 | 3.8 |
| Note: These data are not seasonally adjusted. | |||
Wages and salaries increased 3.1 percent, while benefit costs were up 3.8 percent, over the year ended in June 2026. A year earlier, wages and salaries costs were up 3.5 percent and benefit costs increased 3.4 percent.
These data are from the Employment Cost Index program and are not seasonally adjusted. To learn more, see "Employment Cost Index — June 2026."Also see more charts on the Employment Cost Index. Total compensation costs are the sum of wages and salaries plus benefit costs.
SUGGESTED CITATION
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Compensation costs for private industry workers up 3.3 percent over the year ended June 2026 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2026/compensation-costs-for-private-industry-workers-up-3-3-percent-over-the-year-ended-june-2026.htm (visited August 06, 2026).
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