November 01, 2007 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Employment costs in private industry, September 2007

Compensation costs for private sector workers rose 0.8 percent from June to September 2007 (seasonally adjusted), compared to 0.9 percent for the prior quarter.

3-month percent changes in Employment Cost Index, private industry workers, seasonally adjusted, December 2005-September 2007
[Chart data—TXT]

Wages and salaries for private industry workers increased 0.8 percent between June and September, the same as the previous quarter.

Benefit costs for private industry also rose 0.8 percent, compared to 1.1 percent the previous quarter.

These data are from the BLS Compensation Cost Trends program. Compensation costs (also known as employment costs) include wages, salaries, and employer costs for employee benefits. Data are subject to revision. Learn more in "Employment Cost Index—September 2007" (PDF) (TXT), news release USDL 07-1677.