August 06, 2003 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Benefit costs for State and local government workers jump over the year

Benefit costs for State and local government rose sharply for the year ending June 2003, increasing 6.8 percent, compared with an increase of 4.6 percent for the year ending June 2002.

12-month percent changes in Employment Cost Index, wages and salaries and benefit costs for State and local government, June 1998-June 2003
[Chart data—TXT]

The over-the-year increase in wages and salaries for June 2003 was 3.1 percent in State and local government, compared with a gain of 3.2 percent for June 2002.

These data are from the BLS Compensation Cost Trends program. The data in this article are not seasonally adjusted. Learn more in "Employment Cost Index—June 2003" (PDF) (TXT), news release USDL 03-402.

 

Related TED article:

Happy 10th Birthday, TED!

The very first issue of The Editor's Desk (TED) was posted on September 28, 1998. TED was the first online-only publication of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. For 10 years, BLS has been committed to posting a new TED article each business day, for a total of over 2,400 articles so far.

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