Total compensation costs for private industry workers increased 1.8 percent in the Washington-Baltimore-Northern Virginia, D.C.-Md.-Va.-W.Va., metropolitan area for the year ended March 2012, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Sheila Watkins, the Bureau’s regional commissioner, noted that one year ago, Washington-Baltimore experienced an annual gain of 1.6 percent in total compensation costs. Locally, wages and salaries, the largest component of total compensation costs, advanced at a 1.4-percent pace for the 12-month period ended March 2012. Nationwide, total compensation costs rose 2.1 percent and wages and salaries, 1.9 percent over the year. (See chart 1 and table 1.)

Washington-Baltimore is 1 of 15 metropolitan areas in the United States, and 1 of 5 areas in the South region of the country, for which locality compensation cost data are now available. Washington-Baltimore was near the middle in growth rate in total compensation costs, ranking seventh, tied with Chicago, Minneapolis and New York. For the other areas, growth rates in total compensation ranged from 3.2 percent in Atlanta to 0.8 percent in Seattle. The Washington-Baltimore area was also near the middle in wage and salary gains from March 2011 to March 2012, ranking eighth along with Los Angeles and San Jose. For the other areas, growth rates in wages and salaries ranged from 2.7 percent in Atlanta to 1.0 percent in Phoenix. (See chart 2.)

Comparing the annual increases in total compensation costs among the five metropolitan areas in the South, Washington-Baltimore’s growth rate (1.8 percent) was well below that for Atlanta (3.2 percent) and Dallas (2.6 percent), but closer to those for Houston (1.7 percent) and Miami (1.6 percent). Washington-Baltimore’s 1.4-percent gain in wages and salaries over this 12-month period was below Atlanta’s 2.7-percent gain, but similar to the other southern metropolitan areas (Miami and Houston at 1.5 percent each and Dallas at 1.1 percent). (See table 2.)

Locality compensation costs are part of the national Employment Cost Index (ECI), which measures quarterly changes in total compensation costs, including wages, salaries and employer costs for employee benefits. In addition to the 15 locality estimates provided in this release, ECI data for the nation, 4 geographical regions, and 9 geographical divisions are available. (Geographical definitions for the metropolitan areas mentioned in this release are included in the Technical Note.)

In addition to the geographic data, a comprehensive national report is available that provides data by industry, occupational group, and union status, as well as for both private, and state and local government employees. The report on the Employment Cost Index and further technical information may be obtained from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Mid Atlantic Regional Office by calling 215-597-3282. The report is also available on the Internet at www.bls.gov/news.release/eci.toc.htm. Current and historical information from other Bureau programs may be accessed via our regional homepage at www.bls.gov/ro3/. The ECI for the nation, regions, and divisions for March 2012 will be released on Friday, April 27, 2012 at 8:30 a.m. (ET). Information from the Employment Cost Index program is available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: 202-691-5200, Federal Relay Services: 1-800-877-8339.

Technical Note

The Employment Cost Index (ECI) is a measure of the change in the cost of labor, free from the influence of employment shifts among occupations and industries. The total compensation series includes changes in wages and salaries and employer costs for employee benefits.

Wages and salaries are defined as straight-time average hourly earnings or, for workers not paid on an hourly basis, straight-time earnings divided by the corresponding hours. Straight-time wage and salary rates are total earnings before payroll deductions, excluding premium pay for overtime, work on weekends and holidays, and shift differentials. Production bonuses, incentive earnings, commission payments, and cost-of-living adjustments are included in straight-time earnings, whereas nonproduction bonuses (such as Christmas or year-end bonuses) are excluded. Also excluded are such items as payments-in-kind, free room and board, and tips.

Selection of areas

Based on available resources and the existing ECI sample, it was determined that estimates would be published for 14 metropolitan areas. Since the ECI sample sizes by area are directly related to area employment, the areas with the largest private industry employment as of the year 2000 were selected. For each of these areas, 12-month percent changes and associated standard areas were computed for the periods since December 2006. (Note: The Seattle-Tacoma-Olympia area was added to the list in September 2009 to make a total of 15 metropolitan areas.)

The metropolitan area definitions of the 15 published localities are listed below.

• Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Gainesville, Ga.-Ala. Combined Statistical Area (CSA) includes Barrow, Bartow, Butts, Carroll, Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb, Coweta, Dawson, DeKalb, Douglas, Fayette, Forsyth, Fulton, Gwinnett, Hall, Haralson, Heard, Henry, Jasper, Lamar, Meriwether, Newton, Paulding, Pickens, Pike, Polk, Rockdale, Spalding, Troup, Upson, and Walton Counties in Georgia and Chambers County in Alabama.
• Boston-Worcester-Manchester, Mass.-N.H. CSA includes Essex, Middlesex, Norfolk, Plymouth, Suffolk, and Worcester Counties in Massachusetts and Belknap, Hillsborough, Merrimack, Rockingham, and Strafford Counties in New Hampshire.
• Chicago-Naperville-Michigan City, Ill.-Ind.-Wis. CSA includes Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kankakee, Kendall, Lake, McHenry, and Will Counties in Illinois; Jasper, Lake, LaPorte, Newton, and Porter Counties in Indiana; and Kenosha County in Wisconsin.
• Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas CSA includes Collin, Cooke, Dallas, Delta, Denton, Ellis, Henderson, Hood, Hunt, Johnson, Kaufman, Palo Pinto, Parker, Rockwall, Somervell, Tarrant, and Wise Counties in Texas.
• Detroit-Warren-Flint, Mich. CSA includes Genesee, Lapeer, Livingston, Macomb, Monroe, Oakland, St. Clair, Washtenaw, and Wayne Counties in Michigan.
• Houston-Baytown-Huntsville, Texas CSA includes Austin, Brazoria, Chambers, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris, Liberty, Matagorda, Montgomery, San Jacinto, Walker, and Waller Counties in Texas.
• Los Angeles-Long Beach-Riverside, Calif. CSA includes Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, and Ventura Counties in California.
• Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, Fla. Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) includes Broward, Miami-Dade, and Palm Beach Counties in Florida.
• Minneapolis-St. Paul-St. Cloud, Minn.-Wis. CSA includes Anoka, Benton, Carver, Chisago, Dakota, Goodhue, Hennepin, Isanti, McLeod, Ramsey, Rice, Scott, Sherburne, Stearns, Washington, and Wright Counties in Minnesota and Pierce and St. Croix Counties in Wisconsin.
• New York-Newark-Bridgeport, N.Y.-N.J.-Conn.-Pa. CSA includes Bronx, Dutchess, Kings, Nassau, New York, Orange, Putnam, Queens, Richmond, Rockland, Suffolk, Ulster, and Westchester Counties in New York; Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, Ocean, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex, and Union Counties in New Jersey; Fairfield, Litchfield, and New Haven Counties in Connecticut; and Pike County in Pennsylvania.
• Philadelphia-Camden-Vineland, Pa.-N.J.-Del.-Md. CSA includes Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia Counties in Pennsylvania; Burlington, Camden, Cumberland, Gloucester, and Salem Counties in New Jersey; New Castle County in Delaware; and Cecil County in Maryland.
• Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Ariz. MSA includes Maricopa and Pinal Counties in Arizona.
• San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, Calif. CSA includes Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Benito, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Solano and Sonoma Counties in California.
• Seattle-Tacoma-Olympia, Wash. CSA includes Island, King, Kitsap, Mason, Pierce, Snohomish, and Thurston Counties in Washington.
• Washington-Baltimore-Northern Virginia, D.C.-Md.-Va.-W.Va. CSA includes the District of Columbia; Baltimore City and Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Calvert, Carroll, Charles, Frederick, Harford, Howard, Montgomery, Prince George’s, Queen Anne’s, and St. Mary’s Counties in Maryland; Alexandria, Fairfax, Falls Church, Fredericksburg, Manassas, Manassas Park, and Winchester Cities and Arlington, Clarke, Fairfax, Fauquier, Frederick, Loudoun, Prince William, Spotsylvania, Stafford, and Warren Counties in Virginia; and Hampshire and Jefferson Counties in West Virginia.

Definitions of the four geographic regions of the country are noted below.

• Northeast: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont.
• South: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia.
• Midwest: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.
• West: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.

Table 1. Employment Cost Index for compensation and for wages and salaries, private industry workers, United States, South region, and the Washington-Baltimore area, not seasonally adjusted

Area	Total compensation 12-month percent changes for period ended—				Wages and salaries 12-month percent changes for period ended—
	March	June	September	December	March	June	September	December
United States
2008	3.2	3.0	2.8	2.4	3.2	3.1	2.9	2.6
2009	1.9	1.5	1.2	1.2	2.0	1.6	1.4	1.3
2010	1.6	1.9	2.0	2.1	1.5	1.6	1.6	1.8
2011	2.0	2.3	2.1	2.2	1.6	1.7	1.7	1.6
2012	2.1				1.9
South
2008	3.4	3.0	2.8	2.4	3.3	3.3	3.1	2.8
2009	1.9	1.5	1.4	1.3	2.1	1.5	1.4	1.4
2010	1.5	1.7	1.7	1.9	1.4	1.5	1.4	1.7
2011	1.7	2.1	2.0	2.0	1.6	1.8	1.9	1.6
2012	2.3				2.0
Washington-Baltimore-Northern Virginia
2008	3.1	2.7	3.0	3.1	3.1	2.7	2.8	3.0
2009	2.0	1.9	1.6	1.6	2.2	2.5	2.0	2.0
2010	1.7	1.9	1.9	2.0	1.6	1.3	1.5	1.8
2011	1.6	1.5	1.7	1.5	1.5	1.3	1.8	1.1
2012	1.8				1.4

Table 2. Employment Cost Index for compensation and for wages and salaries, private industry workers, United States, geographical regions, and localities, not seasonally adjusted

Area	Total compensation			Wages and salaries
	12-month percent changes for period ended―			12-month percent changes for period ended―
	March 2011	December 2011	March 2012	March 2011	December 2011	March 2012
United States	2.0	2.2	2.1	1.6	1.6	1.9
Northeast	2.3	2.2	1.8	1.8	1.7	1.8
Boston-Worcester-Manchester	2.8	2.5	1.9	2.3	2.0	1.6
New York-Newark-Bridgeport	2.4	2.3	1.8	1.9	1.6	1.5
Philadelphia-Camden-Vineland	2.8	2.8	2.1	1.9	2.3	2.3
South	1.7	2.0	2.3	1.6	1.6	2.0
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Gainesville	1.6	2.0	3.2	1.6	1.8	2.7
Dallas-Fort Worth	2.3	2.8	2.6	2.2	1.4	1.1
Houston-Baytown-Huntsville	3.3	1.4	1.7	3.7	1.1	1.5
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach	1.2	1.8	1.6	0.9	1.7	1.5
Washington-Baltimore-Northern Virginia	1.6	1.5	1.8	1.5	1.1	1.4
Midwest	2.1	2.3	2.2	1.7	1.5	1.8
Chicago-Naperville-Michigan City	2.7	1.8	1.8	1.9	0.9	1.3
Detroit-Warren-Flint	2.2	4.5	1.9	1.1	0.7	1.2
Minneapolis-St. Paul-St. Cloud	2.7	2.5	1.8	2.9	2.0	1.3
West	2.0	2.3	1.9	1.4	1.7	1.6
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Riverside	1.7	1.6	1.6	1.1	1.3	1.4
Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale	2.5	2.8	1.5	2.2	2.0	1.0
San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland	2.1	2.7	2.1	1.7	1.9	1.4
Seattle-Tacoma-Olympia	4.0	1.0	0.8	1.7	1.5	1.7

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