November 01, 2002 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Employment costs up 0.6 percent from June to September

Compensation costs in private industry rose 0.6 percent in the June-September 2002 period (seasonally adjusted), a smaller gain than the increase of 1.1 percent during the previous 3-month period.

3-month percent changes in Employment Cost Index, private industry workers, seasonally adjusted, December 2000-September 2002
[Chart data—TXT]

The gain in wages and salaries slowed to 0.4 percent in the quarter ended in September; in June, it was 1.0 percent.

Benefit costs for private industry workers showed a rise of 1.0 percent during the September quarter, compared with a 1.4-percent gain during the June quarter.

These data are from the BLS Employment Cost Trends program. Compensation costs (also known as employment costs) include wages, salaries, and employer costs for employee benefits. Learn more in "Employment Cost Index—September 2002" (PDF) (TXT), news release USDL 02-611.