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Employment Cost Index

The Employment Cost Index (ECI) measures the change in the hourly labor cost to employers over time. The ECI uses a fixed “basket” of labor to produce a pure cost change, free from the effects of workers moving between occupations and industries and includes both the cost of wages and salaries and the cost of benefits.


Charts

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Latest Numbers

RSS
EMPLOYMENT COST INDEX (ECI) News Release
TOTAL COMPENSATION: 3-month % change (SA)

Civilian workers 1.0% in 2nd Qtr of 2023 Historical Data

Private industry workers 1.0% in 2nd Qtr of 2023 Historical Data

State and local government workers 1.0% in 2nd Qtr of 2023 Historical Data

TOTAL COMPENSATION: 12-month % change (NSA)

Civilian workers 4.5% in 2nd Qtr of 2023 Historical Data

Private industry workers 4.5% in 2nd Qtr of 2023 Historical Data

State and local government workers 4.9% in 2nd Qtr of 2023 Historical Data

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Videos

How the Employment Cost Index Is Used?

The Employment Cost Index, or ECI, measures changes in the cost of employees to employers over time. In the private sector, business owners and human resources professionals can use the ECI to make decisions about pay adjustments to help them stay competitive. In the public sector, the Federal Reserve and others use the ECI to gauge the health of the labor market, adjust contracts, and research the labor market. read more »

News Releases

Compensation costs up 1.0% Mar 2023 to June 2023 and up 4.5% over the year ending Jun 2023

07/28/2023

Compensation costs increased 1.0 percent for civilian workers, seasonally adjusted, from March 2023 to June 2023. Over the year, total compensation rose 4.5 percent, wages and salaries rose 4.6 percent, and benefit costs rose 4.2 percent.
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Next Release

The Employment Cost Index (ECI) for September 2023 is scheduled to be released on October 31, 2023 at 8:30 A.M. Eastern Time.

Publications

The Economics Daily

The Economics Daily article image

Compensation costs for civilian workers averaged $42.48 per hour worked in December 2022

Total employer compensation costs for civilian workers averaged $42.48 per hour worked in December 2022. Wages and salaries cost employers $29.32 and accounted for 69.0 percent of total costs, while benefits cost $13.17 and accounted for the remaining 31.0 percent. read more »

Monthly Labor Review

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The Linked Employment Cost Index: a first look and estimation methodology

This article provides a first look at the Linked Employment Cost Index, an index the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics is evaluating for potential publication. read more »