An official website of the United States government
18-1265-PHI
Wednesday, August 01, 2018
Total compensation costs for private industry workers increased 3.1 percent in the Washington-Baltimore-Northern Virginia, DC-MD-VA-WV, metropolitan area for the year ended June 2018, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Sheila Watkins, the Bureau’s regional commissioner, noted that one year ago, Washington-Baltimore experienced an annual gain of 1.9 percent in total compensation costs. Locally, wages and salaries, the largest component of total compensation costs, advanced at a 3.5-percent pace for the 12-month period ended June 2018. Nationwide, total compensation costs and wages and salaries rose 2.9 percent each over the year. (See chart 1 and table 1.)
Washington-Baltimore is 1 of 15 metropolitan areas in the United States, and 1 of 5 areas in the South region of the country, for which locality compensation cost data are now available. Washington-Baltimore’s over-the-year increase of 3.1 percent in total compensation ranked 5th of the 15 published areas in June 2018, tying with Chicago and Los Angeles. Among the other areas, percent changes in total compensation ranged from 7.8 percent in Seattle to 1.7 percent in Boston from June 2017 to June 2018. With an increase of 3.5 percent, Washington-Baltimore ranked 4th in wage and salary gains over the year. Growth rates in wages and salaries among the other metropolitan areas ranged from 4.5 percent in San Jose to 1.1 percent in Boston. (See chart 2.)
When compared with the other four metropolitan areas in the South, the annual increase in total compensation costs in Washington-Baltimore (3.1 percent) in June 2018 was above those in Miami (2.7 percent), Dallas (2.1 percent), Atlanta (1.9 percent), and Houston (1.8 percent). Washington-Baltimore’s 3.5-percent gain in wages and salaries over the 12-month period was also the highest in the region, greater than those in Miami (3.1 percent), Atlanta (2.0 percent), Houston (1.9 percent), and Dallas (1.8 percent). (See table 2.)
Locality compensation costs are part of the national Employment Cost Index (ECI), which measures quarterly changes in compensation costs, which include wages, salaries and employer costs for employee benefits. In addition to the 15 locality estimates provided in this release, ECI data for the nation, 4 geographical regions, and 9 geographical divisions are available. (Geographical definitions for the metropolitan areas mentioned in this release are included in the Technical Note.)
In addition to the geographic data, a comprehensive national report is available that provides data by industry, occupational group, and union status, as well as for both private, and state and local government employees. The release is available on the Internet at www.bls.gov/ncs/ect/ Current and historical information from other Bureau programs may be accessed via our regional homepage at www.bls.gov/regions/mid-atlantic/.
The Employment Cost Index for September 2018 is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, October 31st, 2018.
The Employment Cost Index (ECI) measures the change in the cost of labor, free from the influence of employment shifts among occupations and industries. The compensation series includes changes in wages and salaries and employer costs for employee benefits.
Wages and salaries are defined as straight-time average hourly earnings or, for workers not paid on an hourly basis, straight-time earnings divided by the corresponding hours. Straight-time wage and salary rates are total earnings before payroll deductions, excluding premium pay for overtime, work on weekends and holidays, and shift differentials. Production bonuses, incentive earnings, commission payments, and cost-of-living adjustments are included in straight-time earnings, whereas nonproduction bonuses (such as Christmas or year-end bonuses) are excluded. Also excluded are such items as payments-in-kind, free room and board, and tips.
Based on available resources and the existing ECI sample, it was determined that estimates would be published for 15 metropolitan areas. Since the ECI sample sizes by area are directly related to area employment, the areas with the largest private industry employment as of the year 2000 were selected. For each of these areas, 12-month percent changes and associated standard errors were computed for the periods since December 2006.
The metropolitan area definitions of the 15 published localities are listed below.
Definitions of the four geographic regions of the country are noted below.
Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Federal Relay Service: (800) 877-8339.
Area | Total compensation | Wages and salaries | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
12-month percent changes for period ended- | 12-month percent changes for period ended- | |||||||
March | June | Sep. | Dec. | March | June | Sep. | Dec. | |
United States | ||||||||
2014 | 1.7 | 2.0 | 2.3 | 2.3 | 1.7 | 1.9 | 2.3 | 2.2 |
2015 | 2.8 | 1.9 | 1.9 | 1.9 | 2.8 | 2.2 | 2.1 | 2.1 |
2016 | 1.8 | 2.4 | 2.3 | 2.2 | 2.0 | 2.6 | 2.4 | 2.3 |
2017 | 2.3 | 2.4 | 2.5 | 2.6 | 2.6 | 2.4 | 2.6 | 2.8 |
2018 | 2.8 | 2.9 | 2.9 | 2.9 | ||||
South | ||||||||
2014 | 1.7 | 2.0 | 2.2 | 2.2 | 1.7 | 2.0 | 2.3 | 2.2 |
2015 | 2.2 | 1.8 | 1.6 | 1.5 | 2.2 | 2.1 | 1.9 | 1.8 |
2016 | 1.5 | 1.6 | 1.5 | 1.3 | 1.7 | 1.9 | 1.7 | 1.4 |
2017 | 1.6 | 1.6 | 2.0 | 2.4 | 1.8 | 1.7 | 2.1 | 2.7 |
2018 | 2.6 | 2.7 | 2.8 | 2.9 | ||||
Washington-Baltimore-Northern Virginia | ||||||||
2014 | 1.5 | 1.3 | 1.1 | 1.4 | 1.4 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.2 |
2015 | 1.1 | 1.8 | 2.3 | 2.4 | 0.7 | 1.5 | 1.8 | 2.2 |
2016 | 2.3 | 2.0 | 1.8 | 2.4 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.1 | 2.8 |
2017 | 2.3 | 1.9 | 2.5 | 2.2 | 2.8 | 2.5 | 3.3 | 3.0 |
2018 | 2.5 | 3.1 | 2.8 | 3.5 |
Area | Total compensation | Wages and salaries | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
12-month percent changes for period ended- | 12-month percent changes for period ended- | |||||
Jun. 2017 | Mar. 2018 | Jun. 2018 | Jun. 2017 | Mar. 2018 | Jun. 2018 | |
United States | 2.4 | 2.8 | 2.9 | 2.4 | 2.9 | 2.9 |
Northeast | 2.7 | 2.7 | 2.7 | 2.8 | 2.9 | 2.4 |
Boston-Worcester-Manchester | 2.7 | 2.0 | 1.7 | 2.9 | 1.7 | 1.1 |
New York-Newark-Bridgeport | 3.3 | 2.8 | 3.0 | 3.5 | 3.1 | 2.8 |
Philadelphia-Camden-Vineland | 2.3 | 2.7 | 3.0 | 2.0 | 2.7 | 2.8 |
South | 1.6 | 2.6 | 2.7 | 1.7 | 2.8 | 2.9 |
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Gainesville | 2.2 | 1.1 | 1.9 | 2.6 | 1.7 | 2.0 |
Dallas-Fort Worth | 2.4 | 2.2 | 2.1 | 3.1 | 2.2 | 1.8 |
Houston-Baytown-Huntsville | 2.1 | 2.1 | 1.8 | 2.5 | 2.3 | 1.9 |
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach | 3.7 | 2.4 | 2.7 | 3.9 | 2.7 | 3.1 |
Washington-Baltimore-Northern Virginia | 1.9 | 2.5 | 3.1 | 2.5 | 2.8 | 3.5 |
Midwest | 2.3 | 2.4 | 2.5 | 2.4 | 2.4 | 2.5 |
Chicago-Naperville-Michigan City | 2.8 | 2.9 | 3.1 | 2.8 | 2.9 | 3.1 |
Detroit-Warren-Flint | 2.1 | 2.6 | 3.0 | 2.2 | 2.8 | 3.4 |
Minneapolis-St. Paul-St. Cloud | 3.0 | 3.5 | 3.2 | 3.0 | 3.9 | 3.1 |
West | 3.0 | 3.6 | 3.6 | 3.1 | 3.7 | 3.7 |
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Riverside | 2.9 | 3.2 | 3.1 | 2.7 | 3.1 | 3.3 |
Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale | 2.6 | 3.6 | 3.5 | 2.9 | 4.0 | 3.6 |
San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland | 3.1 | 4.4 | 4.0 | 3.1 | 4.9 | 4.5 |
Seattle-Tacoma-Olympia | 2.7 | 7.2 | 7.8 | 3.6 | 3.6 | 3.9 |
Last Modified Date: Wednesday, August 01, 2018