April 26, 2002 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Benefit, wage costs for State and local government workers rise in step at the beginning of 2002

Benefit costs for State and local government workers rose 0.7 percent during the March 2002 quarter. There had been a 0.8-percent gain in the December quarter.

[Chart data—TXT]

Wages and salaries also rose 0.7 percent in the quarter ended in March, identical to the increase of the previous quarter.

In State and local government, the March 2002 over-the-year increase in wages and salaries was 3.4 percent, compared with a gain of 3.5 percent for March 2001. The 12-month gain in benefit costs for March 2002 was 5.0 percent, significantly higher than the 2.8 percent gain for March 2001.

These data are from the BLS Employment Cost Trends program. The 3-month changes in this article are seasonally adjusted, while the 12-months changes are not seasonally adjusted. Learn more in "Employment Cost Index—March 2002," (PDF) (TXT) news release USDL 02-239.