U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsFor more than half a century, BLS has supplied data on non-Federal pay from its on-going survey programs to those agencies charged with Federal pay administration. To do this, BLS selects a sample of establishments; collects, reviews, and tabulates wage data; and transmits estimates to the appropriate authority (currently, the Office of Personnel Management) for its use in comparing Federal and private pay. Recommendations about adjustments to Federal pay are the responsibility of the President’s Pay Agent and its advisory group, the Federal Salary Council. For a more detailed description of the Federal pay-setting process and the BLS role, refer to www.opm.gov/flsa/oca/pay/html/UsingBLSData.asp.
A September 2009 article in the Bureau’s Monthly Labor Review, "Fifty years of BLS surveys on Federal employees’ pay ,” (PDF) describes the changes in the Federal pay adjustment process over the years and how the changes affected the Bureau’s occupational wage survey programs.
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.
Occupational pay for localities in the United States is available at the BLS web site www.bls.gov/ncs/ocs/compub.htm.
The latest national data are available at the BLS web site www.bls.gov/ncs/ncswage2009.htm.
You may also want to check the Occupational Outlook Handbook for national occupational averages.
The National Compensation Survey produces relative occupational pay comparisons between metropolitan areas and the United States as a whole. The pay relatives are calculated controlling for differences among areas in occupational composition, establishment and occupational characteristics, and the fact that compensation data are collected at different times during the year. For the latest information, see www.bls.gov/ncs/ocs/payrel.htm.
The Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) Manual is used to classify jobs. For more information, see www.bls.gov/soc/.
See the Employment Cost Index.
Cross-industry wage determinations under the Service Contract Act and construction industry wage determinations under the
Davis-Bacon Act are available from: Wage and Hour Division (WHD),
U.S. Department of Labor
Service Contract Act Wage Determinations: 202-693-0073
Davis Bacon Act Wage Determinations: 202-693-0064
General wage and hour questions may also be addressed to WHD
staff at:
Wage and Hour Division (WHD),
U.S. Department of Labor
Phone: 202-693-0067
Occupational Compensation Survey Contact: Staff Phone: 202-691-6199 E-mail: Staff
Last Modified Date: December 15, 2011
