April 30, 2004 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Compensation costs up 3.9 percent in private industry over the year

Compensation costs in private industry rose 3.9 percent in the year ended March 2004, compared with a 3.8 percent increase in March 2003.

12-month percent changes in Employment Cost Index, private industry, March 1999 - March 2004
[Chart data—TXT]

The components of compensation continued to show significant differences. For private industry workers, wages and salaries rose 2.6 percent in the year ended March 2004, compared with a gain of 7.0 percent for benefits.

These data are from the BLS Compensation Cost Trends program. For more information, see "Employment Cost Index – March 2004" (PDF) (TXT), news release USDL 04-751.

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