April 29, 2002 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)
Compensation costs up in first quarter
The 3-month increase in compensation costs for civilian workers was 0.8 percent during the December 2001-March 2002 period. This followed a gain of 1.0 percent in September-December 2001.
![3-month percent changes in Employment Cost Index, seasonally adjusted](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20120925020556im_/http://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/images/2002/apr/wk5/art01.gif) [Chart data—TXT]
Wages and salaries increased 0.8 percent during the December 2001-March 2002 period, following a 0.9 percent increase during the previous 3-month period. Benefit costs rose 1.0 percent during the March quarter, following a 1.2 percent gain in the December quarter.
The 3-month increase in compensation costs for private industry workers was 0.9 percent. and compensation costs for State and local government workers increased 0.7 percent during the December 2001-March 2002 period.
These data are from the Employment
Cost Trends program.
Civilian workers include nonfarm private industry plus State and local
government. See USDL 02-239, "Employment
Cost Index—March 2002," (PDF) (TXT)
for more information on
changes in compensation costs.
Of interest
Spotlight on Statistics: National Hispanic Heritage Month
In this Spotlight, we take a look at the Hispanic labor force—including labor force participation, employment and unemployment, educational attainment, geographic location, country of birth, earnings, consumer expenditures, time use, workplace injuries, and employment projections.
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