Total compensation costs for private industry workers rose 3.5 percent in the West for the year ended March 2008, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor. The South and the Northeast followed closely with increases of 3.4 and 3.3 percent, respectively, during the same period, while the Midwest recorded a 2.6-percent advance. (See charts A and B.) Jay A. Mousa, the Bureau’s regional commissioner, noted that all four regions experienced little or no change in their rates of gain for the year ended March 2008 compared to those recorded in March 2007. Nationally, total compensation costs rose 3.2 percent during the last year, identical to the gain registered in March 2007. (See Technical Note for regional definitions.)

The Employment Cost Index (ECI), a component of the National Compensation Survey, measures quarterly changes in compensation costs, which include wages, salaries, and employer costs for employee benefits. In addition to regional estimates, ECI data for nine smaller geographical divisions are also available. Growth rates for total compensation costs ranged from 3.7 percent in the West North Central division to 2.2 percent in the East North Central division. (See table 1.) The ECI for wages and salaries (a component of the total index that excludes benefit costs) exhibited a similar geographical pattern, as rates of gain ranged from 3.9 percent in the West North Central division to 2.1 percent in the East North Central division.

Among the regions, the annual change in the ECI for wages and salaries ranged from 3.4 percent in the Northeast to 2.6 percent in the Midwest for the year ended March 2008. Wages and salaries rose 3.3 percent in both the South and West for the same period. (See chart C.) Compared to a year ago, annual wage and salary gains were little changed in the Northeast and South, but were lower in the Midwest and West. Nationally, wages and salaries rose 3.2 percent during the last year, compared with the 3.6-percent gain registered in March 2007.

The ECI for total compensation in the West rose 3.5 percent in the year ended March 2008, comparable to the 3.6-percent increase recorded in March 2007. However, the latest over-the-year gain in the regional ECI for wages and salaries, at 3.3 percent, was lower than the year-ago rate of 4.1 percent. Retail prices in the West, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), increased 3.7 percent during the year ended March 2008. (See tables 2 and 3.)

Total compensation costs in the South rose 3.4 percent for the year ended March 2008, about the same as the 3.3-percent gain registered during the year ended March 2007. The wage and salary ECI in the South rose 3.3 percent during the last 12 months compared to a 3.6-percent increase recorded a year ago. Retail prices in the South advanced 4.4 percent during the year ended March 2008.

From March 2007 to March 2008, total compensation costs in the Northeast rose 3.3 percent, compared to a 3.1-percent increase recorded in the previous year. Wages and salaries in the Northeast increased 3.4 percent for the year ended March 2008, close to the 3.2-percent gain reported in March 2007. Retail prices in the Northeast increased 3.9 percent during the year ended March 2008.

In the Midwest, total compensation costs advanced 2.6 percent during the year ended March 2008, identical to the increase registered during the previous 12-month period. On the other hand, the recent 2.6-percent advance in the ECI for wages and salaries in the Midwest was lower than the 3.2-percent over-the-year increase posted last March. Retail prices in the Midwest increased 3.7 percent from March 2007 to March 2008.

For the United States as a whole, private industry compensation costs rose 3.2 percent for the year ended March 2008, matching the over-the-year increase reported in March 2007. During the latest 12-month period, wages and salaries also advanced 3.2 percent nationwide, below the year-ago gain of 3.6 percent. (See chart D.) The national CPI-U rose 4.0 percent from March 2007 to March 2008.