January 31, 2005 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Over-the-year union and nonunion compensation cost changes, December 2004

Compensation costs in private industry rose 3.8 percent in the year ended December 2004, compared with a 4.0-percent increase in December 2003.

[Chart data—TXT]

Gains in compensation costs for union workers continued to outpace those for nonunion workers. Compensation costs for union workers in private industry advanced 5.6 percent over the year ended December 2004, significantly higher than the 3.4-percent increase for nonunion workers.

Wages and salaries for union workers rose 2.8 percent for the 12 months ended in December 2004, compared with an over-the-year increase of 2.4 percent for nonunion workers. Benefit costs for union workers continued to rise sharply, 10.3 percent, compared with an increase of 6.2 percent for nonunion workers in December 2004.

These data on compensation costs come from the BLS Compensation Cost Trends program. To learn more, see "Employment Cost Index: December 2004" (PDF) (TXT), news release USDL 05-113.