U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsThe National Compensation Survey (NCS) provides comprehensive measures of occupational wages; employment cost trends, and benefit incidence and detailed plan provisions. Detailed occupational earnings are available for metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas, broad geographic regions, and on a national basis. The index component of the NCS (ECI) measures changes in labor costs. Average hourly employer cost for employee compensation is presented in the ECEC.
The National Compensation Survey has released data on health and retirement plans in private industry for 2010. The bulletin provides updated information on health plans provisions for fee-for-service plans and health maintenance organizations, and new data on high-deductible and consumer-driven heath plans. Detailed information on types and provisions of defined benefit and defined contribution retirement plans are also included. This bulletin is available at http://www.bls.gov/ncs/ebs/#bulletin_details. Additional benefits data are available on the National Compensation Survey web page at http://www.bls.gov/ncs/ebs.
Data in the Sacramento-Arden-Arcade-Truckee, CA-NV, 2009 bulletin (TXT) (PDF) and the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Riverside, CA, 2009 bulletin (TXT) (PDF) contained errors throughout due to a data entry error and have been corrected. MORE »
For the first time, the National Compensation Survey produced data on employer-provided benefits available to unmarried domestic partners. The new data was published in tables 7 and 8 of the recently released Employee Benefits in the United States, March 2011. Table 7 has information on survivor benefits in defined benefit retirement plans. Table 8 has data on health care benefits. A fact sheet on unmarried domestic partner benefits summarizes the major findings.
The National Compensation Survey has released data on 12 additional medical benefits not previously published in its recent survey of benefit provisions. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 directs the Secretary of Labor to conduct a survey of employer-sponsored health plans to determine the benefits typically covered by employers, and to report the results of the survey to the Secretary of Health and Human Services. This study was conducted to supplement the medical benefit provisions regularly published as part of the National Compensation Survey’s employee benefits program.
The full version of the report is available at www.bls.gov/ncs/ebs/sp/selmedbensreport.pdf. Links to this report and other recent health benefits data are available on the National Compensation Survey web page, www.bls.gov/ncs/ebs/smb_health.htm. The 12 additional medical benefits come from the same sample that yielded data for NCS: Health and Retirement Plan Provisions in Private Industry in the United States, 2009, at www.bls.gov/ncs/ebs/detailedprovisions/2009/ebbl0045.pdf.
Changes in the presentation of the text section of The Employment Cost Index news release were incorporated in the edition published on July 31, 2009. There were no changes to the format and content of the tables. More...
July 26, 2011
Paid vacations were available to 91 percent of full-time workers in private industry in March 2011
versus 37 percent of part-time workers. Access to paid sick leave was 75 percent for full-time and
27 percent for part-time private industry workers.
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January 31, 2012
Wages and salaries for civilian workers rose 0.4% and benefit costs rose 0.6%, seasonally
adjusted, from September to December 2011. Over the year, compensation rose 2.0%,
wages and salaries 1.4%, and benefits 3.2%.
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December 07, 2011
Employer costs for state and local government workers averaged $26.57 per hour worked for wages and
salaries and $14.19 for benefits in September 2011. State and local government health benefit costs
averaged $4.74 per hour worked in September 2011.
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All NCS Publications (including benefits, compensation costs, and wages) »
Status of Locality Pay Surveys (LPS)
With the enactment of the Federal Government's 2011 budget, the Locality Pay Survey (LPS) portion of the National Compensation Survey (NCS) was eliminated. The final set of LPS products are now published which include the National Bulletin, Nine Census Summaries, Occupational Pay Relatives, and the LPS locality wage estimates. These products will not be produced in the future but we would like to develop methodologies, resources permitting, so that similar estimates can be modeled in the future.
To meet the locality pay requirements of the Federal Employees Pay Comparability Act of 1990, data from the BLS Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) and NCS programs will be used. The OES program provides wage data by occupation for all localities nationwide. The Employment Cost Index (ECI) program will continue to provide detailed worker characteristics such as work level, union status, and part- or full-time work schedule. Together, these two programs allow the BLS to develop wage data by worker characteristics for many occupations and localities.
Although LPS estimates will no longer be available, all other National Compensation Survey product lines, including the Employment Cost Index (ECI) (see Employment Cost Trends) and NCS Benefits, will continue to be produced. Occupational wage estimates will be still available from the OES program.
The Office of Compensation Levels and Trends, Branch of Survey Information and Publications, will be glad to assist you with questions about any of the components of the National Compensation Survey.
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