October 30, 2000 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Small change in benefit costs for State and local government workers

Benefit costs for State and local government workers changed 0.1 percent during the June-September 2000 period (seasonally adjusted); this was down from a gain of 0.5 percent in the June quarter.

3-month percent changes in Employment Cost Index, benefits costs for State and local government, seasonally adjusted, Dec. 1998-Sept. 2000
[Chart data—TXT]

Compensation costs—wages, salaries, and employer costs for employee benefits—for State and local government workers increased 0.6 percent during the June-September 2000 period; in the June period, it was 0.8 percent.

Wages and salaries rose 0.8 percent in the quarter ended in September, the same increase as the previous quarter.

These data are from the BLS Employment Cost Trends program. Learn more in "Employment Cost Index—September 2000," news release USDL 00-311.