TRANSMISSION OF MATERIAL IN THIS RELEASE IS EMBARGOED UNTIL USDL-12-1528
8:30 A.M. (EDT) TUESDAY, JULY 31, 2012
Technical information:
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Media contact:
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EMPLOYMENT COST INDEX - JUNE 2012
Compensation costs for civilian workers increased 0.5 percent, seasonally adjusted, for the 3-month
period ending June 2012, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Wages and salaries
(which make up about 70 percent of compensation costs) increased 0.4 percent, and benefits (which
make up the remaining 30 percent of compensation) increased 0.6 percent.
Civilian Workers
Compensation costs for civilian workers increased 1.7 percent for the 12-month period ending
June 2012. In June 2011 the increase was 2.2 percent. Wages and salaries increased 1.7 percent for the
current 12-month period, essentially unchanged from a year ago when wages and salaries increased
1.6 percent. Benefit costs increased 2.1 percent for the 12-month period ending June 2012 down from
the June 2011 increase, which was 3.6 percent.
Private Industry Workers
Compensation costs for private industry workers increased 1.8 percent over the year. In June 2011 the
increase was 2.3 percent. Wages and salaries increased 1.8 percent for the current 12-month period. The
increase for the 12-month period ending June 2011 was 1.7 percent. The increase in the cost of benefits
was 1.9 percent for the 12-month period ending June 2012, down from the June 2011 increase of
4.0 percent. Employer costs for health benefits decelerated over the year to a 2.4 percent increase, down
from the June 2011 increase of 3.6 percent.
Among occupational groups, compensation cost increases for private industry workers for the
12-month period ending June 2012 ranged from 1.4 percent for production, transportation, and material
moving occupations to 2.3 percent for sales and office occupations.
Among industry supersectors, compensation cost increases for private industry workers for the current
12-month period ranged from 1.2 percent for both leisure and hospitality and manufacturing to
3.7 percent for information.
State and Local Government Workers
Compensation costs for state and local government workers increased 1.6 percent for the 12-month
period ending June 2012, essentially unchanged from the June 2011 increase of 1.7 percent. Values for
this series—which began in June 1982—have ranged from 1.3 percent to 9.6 percent. Wages and
salaries increased 1.1 percent for the 12-month period ending June 2012. A year earlier the increase was
1.2 percent. Prior values for this series, which also began in June 1982, ranged from 1.0 percent to
8.5 percent. Benefit costs increased 2.7 percent in June 2012. In June 2011 the increase was 3.0 percent.
Prior values for this series, which began in June 1990, ranged from 1.2 percent to 8.3 percent.
________________________
The Employment Cost Index for September 2012 is scheduled to be released on
Wednesday, October 31, 2012, at 8:30 a.m. (EDT).
Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request—
Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Federal Relay Service: (800) 877-8339.
BLS news releases, including the ECI, are available through an e-mail subscription service at:
www.bls.gov/bls/list.htm.
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Table A. Major series of the Employment Cost Index
(Percent change)
Category 3-month, 12-month,
seasonally adjusted not seasonally adjusted
Mar. June June Sep. Dec. Mar. June
2012 2012 2011 2011 2011 2012 2012
___________________________________________________________________________________________
CIVILIAN WORKERS[1]
Compensation[2] 0.4 0.5 2.2 2.0 2.0 1.9 1.7
Wages and salaries 0.5 0.4 1.6 1.6 1.4 1.7 1.7
Benefits 0.5 0.6 3.6 3.2 3.2 2.7 2.1
PRIVATE INDUSTRY
Compensation[2] 0.4 0.5 2.3 2.1 2.2 2.1 1.8
Wages and salaries 0.5 0.4 1.7 1.7 1.6 1.9 1.8
Benefits 0.3 0.6 4.0 3.3 3.6 2.8 1.9
STATE AND LOCAL
GOVERNMENT
Compensation[2] 0.7 0.5 1.7 1.5 1.3 1.5 1.6
Wages and salaries 0.4 0.3 1.2 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.1
Benefits 1.1 0.9 3.0 2.5 2.1 2.3 2.7
__________________________________________________________________________________________
[1] Includes private industry and State and local government.
[2] Includes wages and salaries and benefits.
TECHNICAL NOTE
The Employment Cost Index (ECI) measures the change in the cost of labor, free from the
influence of employment shifts among occupations and industries. Detailed information on survey
concepts, coverage, and methods can be found in BLS Handbook of Methods, Chapter 8, “National
Compensation Measures,” Bureau of Labor Statistics, on the Internet at
www.bls.gov/opub/hom/pdf/homch8.pdf.
Sample size
Data for the June 2012 reference period were collected from a probability sample of
approximately 47,400 occupational observations selected from a sample of about 9,500 establishments in
private industry and approximately 9,200 occupations from a sample of about 1,400 establishments in
state and local governments.
Health insurance data
Data from the ECI that provide 12-month percent changes in employer costs for health insurance
in private industry are available at www.bls.gov/ect/sp/echealth.pdf.
Historical listings
Historical listings that provide all ECI data are available at www.bls.gov/ect/#tables. Included
among these listings is one that provides continuous occupational and industry series. This listing uses
the Standard Industrial Classification Manual and Census of Population series through 2005 and the
North American Industry Classification System and Standard Occupational Classification from 2006 to
the present. It provides the official series from the beginning of the ECI in 1975 through the current
quarter. For more information on the criteria used in defining continuous series, see the article published
in the Monthly Labor Review at www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2006/04/art2full.pdf.
Employer Costs for Employee Compensation data
The costs per hour worked of compensation components, based on data from the ECI, are
published in a separate news release titled "Employer Costs for Employee Compensation" (ECEC). The
next ECEC release is scheduled for 10:00 a.m. (EDT), Tuesday, September 11, 2012. Historical ECEC
data are available in summary documents at www.bls.gov/ect/#tables. Since the ECEC is calculated with
current employment weights rather than the fixed weights used in computing the ECI, year-to-year
changes in the cost levels usually differ from those in the ECI.
