Employment Cost Index (ECI)

July 31, 2008
Total compensation costs for civilian workers increased 0.7 percent, seasonally adjusted, from March to June 2008, the same as the increase in the previous quarter. For the year ended June 2008, compensation costs rose 3.1 percent; the June 2007 12-month percent increase was 3.3 percent. More...
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Employer Costs for Employee Compensation (ECEC)

September 10, 2008
Employer costs for retirement and savings plans averaged $1.25 per hour worked in June 2008, which accounted for 4.4 percent of total compensation costs. Overall, employers spent an average of $28.48 per hour worked for compensation. Wages and salaries averaged $19.85 and benefits averaged $8.64. More...
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Current ECT News Releases

• Employment Cost Index (ECI) (HTML) (PDF)
• Employer Costs for Employee Compensation (HTML) (PDF)
• ECEC Archives - Complete set of ECEC news releases from 1986.
• Subscribe to the BLS News Service— receive the Employment Cost Index news release by e-mail

Databases

Database Name	Special Notice	Top Picks	One Screen	Multi- Screen	Tables	Text Files
Tutorials: For help, try these tutorials
Pay & Cost of Benefits
Employment Cost Index
Employer Cost for Employee Compensation

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.
  • Employment Cost Index (ECI)
    • NAICS basis
  • Employer Cost for Employee Compensation (ECEC)
    • 2004 forward (NAICS basis)
• 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 »

• ECI Current-Dollar Historical Listings
• UPDATED NAICS basis (TXT) (PDF 289K)
• SIC basis (TXT) (PDF 573K)
• ECI Constant-Dollar Historical Listings
• UPDATED NAICS basis (TXT) (PDF 230K)
• SIC basis (TXT) (PDF 467K)

• ECI Health Insurance, private industry (PDF 26K)
• NEW ECI Selected Metropolitan Areas (PDF 65K)
• ECI Standard Errors
• 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.
• 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)
• 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

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.

• Employment Cost Indexes, 1975-99 (PDF 567K)
• Employer Costs for Employee Compensation, 1986-99 (PDF 719K)
• NEW The Employment Cost Index and the Impact on Medicare Reimbursements (PDF)
• Related Articles
• Compensation and Working Condition (CWC) Online
• Monthly Labor Review (MLR) Online
• Archives

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 »

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

• Employment Standards Administration—administers a variety of programs protecting the basic rights of workers, including minimum wage and hour standards, and equal employment opportunity.
• Employee Benefit Research Institute—offers a detailed description of private- and public-sector employee benefit programs as they exist today.