November 02, 2006 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

State and local government employment costs up 1.4 percent from June to September

For state and local government workers, compensation costs increased 1.4 percent from June 2006 to September 2006, after increasing 1.1 percent for the quarter ended in June.

3-month percent changes in Employment Cost Index for State and local government, December 2004 - September 2006
[Chart data—TXT]

Wages and salaries in state and local government advanced 1.4 percent during the June to September period, higher than the 0.9 percent gain in the prior quarter.

Benefit costs for state and local government workers increased 1.5 percent in the September quarter, unchanged from the gain in June.

These data are from the BLS Compensation Cost Trends program. For more information, see "Employment Cost Index – September 2006" (PDF) (TXT), news release USDL 06-1900.