Boston is 1 of 15 metropolitan areas in the United States, and 1 of 3 areas in the Northeast region of the country for which locality compensation cost data are available. Among these 15 largest areas, Boston was among 6 that had both total compensation growth and wage and salary increases below the U.S. average from December 2011 to December 2012. Over-the-year growth rates in the cost of total compensation ranged from 4.8 percent in Atlanta to -0.2 percent in Detroit in December 2012; for wages and salaries, annual advances ranged from 4.4 percent in Atlanta to 0.4 percent in Minneapolis. (See chart B.)

In comparison to the other metropolitan areas in the Northeast, the annual increase in total compensation costs in Boston matched New York’s and was below Philadelphia’s increase of 1.8 percent. Boston’s 1.3-percent gain in wages and salaries in December 2012 was close to the increase in New York (1.4 percent) and below the increase recorded in Philadelphia (2.4 percent).

Locality compensation costs are part of the national Employment Cost Index (ECI) which measures quarterly changes in total compensation costs, which include wages, salaries and employer costs for employee benefits. In addition to the 15 locality estimates provided in this release, ECI data for the nation, 4 geographical regions, and 9 geographical divisions are available. (Geographic definitions for the metropolitan areas mentioned in this release are included in the Technical Note.)

In addition to the geographic data, a comprehensive national report is available that provides data by industry, occupational group and union status, as well as for both private and state and local government employees.  The report on the ECI and further technical information may be obtained from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, New England (Boston) Regional Office by calling 617-565-2327.  The report is also available on the Internet at www.bls.gov/news.release/eci.toc.htm.  Current and historical information for the Bureau programs may be accessed via our regional homepage at www.bls.gov/ro1/.  The ECI for January 2013 is scheduled to be released on Tuesday, April 30, 2013 at 8:30 a.m. (ET).  Information from the Employment Cost Index program is available to sensory impaired individuals upon request.  Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; TDD message referral phone number: 1-800-877-8339.

 

Selected Employment Cost Index estimates for the U.S. and six metropolitan areas (Atlanta, Boston, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, and San Jose) from June 2009 through September 2010 were corrected on January 18, 2011. For further information, see: www.bls.gov/bls/eci_corrections_111910.htm.

Technical Note

The Employment Cost Index (ECI) is a measure of the change in the cost of labor, free from the influence of employment shifts among occupations and industries.  The total compensation series includes changes in wages and salaries and employer costs for employee benefits.

Wages and salaries are defined as straight-time average hourly earnings or, for workers not paid on an hourly basis, straight-time earnings divided by the corresponding hours.  Straight-time wage and salary rates are total earnings before payroll deductions, excluding premium pay for overtime, work on weekends and holidays, and shift differentials.  Production bonuses, incentive earnings, commission payments, and cost-of-living adjustments are included in straight-time earnings, whereas nonproduction bonuses (such as Christmas or year-end bonuses) are excluded. 

Selection of areas

Based on available resources and the existing ECI sample, it was determined that estimates would be published for 14 metropolitan areas.  Since the ECI sample sizes by area are directly related to area employment, the areas with the largest private industry employment as of the year 2000 were selected.  For each of these areas, 12-month percent changes and associated standard errors were computed for the periods since December 2006. (Note: The Seattle-Tacoma-Olympia area was added to the list in September 2009 to make a total of 15 metropolitan areas.)

The metropolitan area definitions of the 15 published localities are listed below.

Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Gainesville, Ga.-Ala. Combined Statistical Area (CSA) includes Barrow, Bartow, Butts, Carroll, Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb, Coweta, Dawson, DeKalb, Douglas, Fayette, Forsyth, Fulton, Gwinnett, Hall, Haralson, Heard, Henry, Jasper, Lamar, Meriwether, Newton, Paulding, Pickens, Pike, Polk, Rockdale, Spalding, Troup, Upson, and Walton Counties in Georgia and Chambers County in Alabama.
Boston-Worcester-Manchester, Mass.-N.H. CSA includes Essex, Middlesex, Norfolk, Plymouth, Suffolk, and Worcester Counties in Massachusetts and Belknap, Hillsborough, Merrimack, Rockingham, and Strafford Counties in New Hampshire.
Chicago-Naperville-Michigan City, Ill.-Ind.-Wis. CSA includes Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kankakee, Kendall, Lake, McHenry, and Will Counties in Illinois; Jasper, Lake, LaPorte, Newton, and Porter Counties in Indiana; and Kenosha County in Wisconsin.
Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas CSA includes Collin, Cooke, Dallas, Delta, Denton, Ellis, Henderson, Hood, Hunt, Johnson, Kaufman, Palo Pinto, Parker, Rockwall, Somervell, Tarrant, and Wise Counties in Texas.
Detroit-Warren-Flint, Mich. CSA includes Genesee, Lapeer, Livingston, Macomb, Monroe, Oakland, St. Clair, Washtenaw, and Wayne Counties in Michigan.
Houston-Baytown-Huntsville, Texas CSA includes Austin, Brazoria, Chambers, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris, Liberty, Matagorda, Montgomery, San Jacinto, Walker, and Waller Counties in Texas.
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Riverside, Calif. CSA includes Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, and Ventura Counties in California.
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, Fla. Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) includes Broward, Miami-Dade, and Palm Beach Counties in Florida.
Minneapolis-St. Paul-St. Cloud, Minn.-Wis. CSA includes Anoka, Benton, Carver, Chisago, Dakota, Goodhue, Hennepin, Isanti, McLeod, Ramsey, Rice, Scott, Sherburne, Stearns, Washington, and Wright Counties in Minnesota and Pierce and St. Croix Counties in Wisconsin.
New York-Newark-Bridgeport, N.Y.-N.J.-Conn.-Pa. CSA includes Bronx, Dutchess, Kings, Nassau, New York, Orange, Putnam, Queens, Richmond, Rockland, Suffolk, Ulster, and Westchester Counties in New York; Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, Ocean, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex, and Union Counties in New Jersey; Fairfield, Litchfield, and New Haven Counties in Connecticut; and Pike County in Pennsylvania.
Philadelphia-Camden-Vineland, Pa.-N.J.-Del.-Md. CSA includes Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia Counties in Pennsylvania; Burlington, Camden, Cumberland, Gloucester, and Salem Counties in New Jersey; New Castle County in Delaware; and Cecil County in Maryland.
Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Ariz. MSA includes Maricopa and Pinal Counties in Arizona.
San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, Calif. CSA includes Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Benito, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Sonoma, and Solano Counties in California.
Seattle-Tacoma-Olympia, Wash. CSA includes Island, King, Kitsap, Mason, Pierce, Snohomish, and Thurston Counties in Washington.
Washington-Baltimore-Northern Virginia, D.C.-Md.-Va.-W.Va. CSA includes the District of Columbia; Baltimore City and Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Calvert, Carroll, Charles, Frederick, Harford, Howard, Montgomery, Prince George’s, Queen Anne’s, and St. Mary’s Counties in Maryland; Alexandria, Fairfax, Falls Church, Fredericksburg, Manassas, Manassas Park, and Winchester Cities and Arlington, Clarke, Fairfax, Fauquier, Frederick, Loudoun, Prince William, Spotsylvania, Stafford, and Warren Counties in Virginia; and Hampshire and Jefferson Counties in West Virginia.

Definitions of the four geographic regions of the country are noted below.

Northeast:  Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont.

South:  Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia.

Midwest:  Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.

West:  Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.

Table 1. Employment Cost Index for total compensation and for wages and salaries, private industry workers, United States, Northeast region, and the Boston area, not seasonally adjusted

Area	Total compensation				Wages and salaries
	12-month percent changes for period ended-				12-month percent changes for period ended-
	March	June	September	December	March	June	September	December
United States
2006	2.6	2.8	3.0	3.2	2.4	2.8	3.0	3.2
2007	3.2	3.1	3.1	3.0	3.6	3.3	3.4	3.3
2008	3.2	3.0	2.8	2.4	3.2	3.1	2.9	2.6
2009	1.9	1.5	1.2	1.2	2.0	1.6	1.4	1.3
2010	1.6	1.9	2.0	2.1	1.5	1.6	1.6	1.8
2011	2.0	2.3	2.1	2.2	1.6	1.7	1.7	1.6
2012	2.1	1.8	2.0	1.9	1.9	1.8	1.8	1.7
Northeast
2006	3.4	3.4	3.3	3.3	3.1	3.1	3.3	3.1
2007	3.1	3.2	3.6	3.4	3.2	3.2	3.5	3.4
2008	3.3	2.9	2.4	2.5	3.4	3.0	2.5	2.8
2009	2.2	1.9	1.8	1.4	2.2	1.9	1.9	1.4
2010	1.8	2.3	2.2	2.3	1.6	2.1	1.9	2.1
2011	2.3	2.3	2.3	2.2	1.8	1.8	1.8	1.7
2012	1.8	1.6	1.6	1.6	1.8	1.6	1.6	1.5
Boston-Worcester-Manchester
2006				3.6				4.0
2007	3.5	3.5	3.8	3.2	3.8	3.8	4.0	3.6
2008	3.0	2.5	2.4	4.0	3.2	2.7	2.5	4.5
2009	3.5	3.5	3.2	1.5	3.9	3.6	3.6	1.4
2010	2.0	2.3	2.2	2.4	1.8	2.3	1.9	2.2
2011	2.8	3.1	2.9	2.5	2.3	2.7	2.4	2.0
2012	1.9	1.2	1.5	1.6	1.6	0.8	1.1	1.3

 

Last Modified Date: February 6, 2013