National Compensation Survey - Employment Cost Trends produces quarterly indexes measuring change over time in labor costs (ECI) and quarterly data measuring level of average costs per hour worked (ECEC).

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Latest ECT News Release

Employment Cost Index (ECI)

April 30, 2008
Total compensation costs for civilian workers increased 0.7 percent, seasonally adjusted, from December 2007 to March 2008. Last quarter, the increase was 0.8 percent. Over the year, compensation costs rose 3.3 percent; the March 2007 12-month percent increase was 3.5 percent. More...
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Employer Costs for Employee Compensation (ECEC)

June 11, 2008
Employers spent an average of $28.46 per hour worked for compensation in March 2008. Wages and salaries averaged $19.83 and benefits averaged $8.63. Health insurance was the largest individual benefit cost at $2.26 per hour worked, which accounted for 7.9 percent of total compensation costs. More...
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Current ECT News Releases

  • Employment Cost Index (ECI) (HTML) (PDF)
  • UPDATED Employer Costs for Employee Compensation (HTML) (PDF)
  • Subscribe to the BLS News Service— receive the Employment Cost Index news release by e-mail

 

ECT Databases

Databases

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Tutorials:
For help, try these tutorials 		  Most Requested Statistics Tutorial Create Customized Tables (one screen) Tutorial Create Customized Tables (multi screen) Tutorial  
Pay & Cost of Benefits
Employment Cost Index
 Special Notice Top Picks One Screen Data Search Multi Screen Data Search Text Files
Employer Cost for Employee Compensation
   Top Picks One Screen Data Search Multi Screen Data Search Text Files

 

More Tools

  • Series Report —Already know the series identifier for the statistic you want? Use this shortcut to retrieve your data.
  • Flat files (FTP)—For those who want it all. Download a flat file of the entire database or large subset of the database.
  • Compensation Cost Trends Search--allows you to search through all the Employment Cost Index and Employer Costs for Employee Compensation publications that are currently available electronically.

All ECT Databases »

 

ECT Tables

  • ECI Current-Dollar Historical Listings
  • ECI Constant-Dollar Historical Listings
  • ECI Health Insurance, private industry (PDF 26K)
  • ECI Standard Errors
  • UPDATED ECEC Historical Listing, 2004 to present (Quarterly)-Employer Costs for Employee Compensation (TXT) (PDF 727K) -- Quarterly estimates from March 2004 to the present, with sample establishments classified by industry categories based on the new 2002 North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) and the 2000 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system.
  • UPDATED ECEC Supplemental Tables Historical Data, December 2006 – March 2008 (TXT) (PDF 447K)
  • ECEC Relative Standard Errors (TXT) (PDF 145K)
  • ECEC Relative Standard Errors – Supplementary Tables (TXT) (PDF 125K)
  • UPDATED ECEC Supplemental Tables—Employer Costs for Employee Compensation - March 2008 (TXT) (PDF 151K) |December 2007 (TXT) (PDF 151K) | September 2007 (TXT) (PDF 140K) | June 2007 (TXT) (PDF 138K) | March 2007 (TXT) (PDF 60K) | December 2006 (TXT) (PDF 81K) -- supplemental tables with series for private industry workers by occupational group, establishment size, and bargaining status in 14 detailed industries.
  • ECEC Historical Listing, 2002-2003 (Quarterly)—Employer Costs for Employee Compensation (TXT) (PDF 526K) -- Quarterly estimates from March 2002 to December 2003, with sample establishments classified by industry categories based on the 1987 Standard Industry Classification (SIC) system and by occupational classifications according to the 1990 Census of Population.
  • ECEC Historical Listing, 1986-2001 (Annual)—Employer Costs for Employee Compensation (TXT) (PDF 983K) -- Annual estimates from March 1986 to March 2001, with sample establishments classified by industry categories based on the Standard Industry Classification (SIC) system and by occupational classifications according to the Census of Population.
  • Seasonal Factors and Revised Seasonally Adjusted Indexes
  • Chart—Changes in wages and salaries and benefit costs, civilian workers

 

Contract Escalation

The Employment Cost Index (ECI) is increasingly being used by business organizations as an escalator to adjust long-term sales and purchasing contracts, and to adjust wage rates in collective bargaining agreements. A web page explaining how to use the ECI for escalating contracts is available.

 

ECT Publications

 

ECT Frequently Asked Questions

People Are Asking...

  1. How do I calculate the percent change between two time periods?
  2. Once I have identified the series I want to use, how should I reference it to make sure it will not be confused with another series?
  3. Where can I get wage determinations data?
  4. Where can I obtain information on minimum wage and overtime laws and regulations?
  5. Where can I find Employment Cost Index (wages & salaries and benefits) historical data?
  6. How often are the ECI and ECEC published?
  7. Does BLS interpret or forecast data on ECI and ECEC?
  8. Is there a survey which shows compensation and benefits as a part of compensation?
  9. Do you have breakdowns of the Employer Costs for Employee Compensation by state?
  10. Does the Employment Cost Index include stock options?

All ECT FAQs »

ECT Related Links

Related Links to Other BLS Programs

  • National Compensation Survey—provides comprehensive measures of occupational earnings; compensation cost trends; and benefit incidence and detail plan provisions.
  • Wages—provides data on occupational wages for localities, broad geographic regions, and the nation..
  • Benefits—comprehensive data on incidence and provisions of selected employee benefit plans.
  • Consumer Price Indexes—provides monthly data on changes in the prices paid by urban consumers for a representative basket of goods and services.
  • Producer Price Indexes—provides monthly data on changes in the selling prices received by domestic producers of goods and services.
  • Occupational Employment Statistics—data on employment and wages for over 800 occupations and for about 400 nonfarm industries for the nation, plus occupational data for States and metropolitan areas.
  • Occupational Outlook Handbook—provides data for 250 occupations, by nature of the work, working conditions, employment, job outlook and earnings, related occupations, sources of additional information, and training, other qualifications, and advancement.

Other Useful Links

 

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