Compensation Levels and Trends

Current news releases

• Employer Costs for Employee Compensation
• Employment Cost Index
• Employee Benefit Survey (Annual)

Historical time series available via gopher

• EB - Employee Benefits Survey
• EC - Employee Cost Index

Occupational Compensation Surveys

Data available

• Averages and distributions of workers by straight-time earnings for selected professional, administrative, technical, protective service, clerical, maintenance, toolroom, material movement and custodial jobs.
• Selected employee benefits: Paid holidays and vacations; and insurance, health, and retirement plans.

Coverage

• All private nonagricultural industries, except households
• State and local government
• Minimum employment is 50 workers

Source of data

• About 25,000 establishments annually in a sample representing the United States (excluding Alaska and Hawaii), and an additional 7,000 establishments in surveys required for administering the Service Contract Act.
• Personal visit interview every 2 or 4 years, collecting data on wages. In intervening years, data are collected by a combination of mail, telephone, and personal visits.
• Employee benefit data are collected approximately once every 5 years.

Reference period

• Selected months, annually or biennially.

Forms of publication

• Bulletins published throughout the year to present results of surveys in metropolitan areas.
• Annual summary bulletinùOccupational Compensation Survey and "Locality Summaries" published throughout the year to present results of surveys conducted for administering the Service Contract Act; issued 1-2 months after reference period.
• Annual summary releases on occupational earnings in the U.S. and all metropolitan areas, and wage differences among areas and occupational earnings in selected areas.
• Historical data in Handbook of Labor Statistics.

Uses

• Wage and salary administration in public and private sectors.
• Union contract negotiations.
• Conciliation and arbitration.
• Plant location planning.
• Occupational counseling.
• Analysis of wage differentials among occupations, industries, and areas.
• Labor cost estimates.
• Administrative evalutation of job offers to unemployment insurance beneficiaries.
• Minimum age determination under the Federal Service Contract Act.

Employee Benefits Survey

Data available

• Incidence and detailed characteristics of 15 private sector employee benefits paid for at least in part by the employer: Lunch and rest periods, holidays, vacations, and personal, funeral, jury duty, military, family, and sick leave; sickness and accident, long-term disability, health, and life insurance; and retirement plans. Retirement data include defined benefit plans and defined contribution plans such as savings and thrift plans with salary reduction arrangements permitted under the Internal Revenue Code.
• Incidence and provision of flexible benefits plans, reimbursement accounts, and unpaid family leave.
• Incidence data on many other employee benefits, including educational assistance, nonproduction bonuses, wellness programs, and subsidized child care.
• Data are presented separately for selected occupational groups. In the private sector, the occupational groups are: Professional, technical, and related; clerical and sales; and blue-collar and service. In the public sector they are: White-collar, except teachers; teacher's and blue-collar and service.

Coverage

• Major benefits in private sector establishment, nationwide.
• Major benefits in State and local government establishment, nationwide.

Source of data

• Sample of about 4,400 private sector establishments, primarily by personal interview.
• Sample of about 1,300 government units, primarily by personal interview.

Reference period

• Year of survey.

Forms of publication

• News release - in the year following reference year.
• BulletinsùEmployee Benefits in Medium and Large Private Establishments; Employee Benefits in Small Private Establishments; and Employee Benefits in State and Local Governmentsùin the year following reference year.
• Series of summary publications on benefit issues.
• Articles in the Monthly Labor Review and Compensation and Working Conditions.

Uses

• Benefit administration and program development in public and private sectors.
• Benefit structure review for Federal compensation adjustments
• Union contract negotiations.
• Conciliation and arbitration and public and private sectors.
• Congressional and administrative consideration of legislation affecting the welfare of workers, such as health care reform.

Employment Cost Index

• This quarterly index measures changes in total compensation (wages, salaries, and employer costs for employee benefits), in wages and salaries only, and in benefit costs only. Data are available on a seasonally adjusted basis for a number of the industry and occupation series.

Data available

• Compensation and wage and salary measures: Total civilian economy: (1) industry divisionsùmanufacturing; nonmanufacturing; goods-producing; service-producing; services (separate data for health services, hospitals, and schools); and public administration; (2) occupational groupsùwhite-collar workers (professional specialty and technical; executive, administrative, and managerial; clerical workers); blue-collar workers and service workers. Private economy: (2) industry divisions good-producing; construction; durable and nondurable goods manufacturing; service producting; trans-portion, communications, and public utilities; wholesale and retail trade combined and separately; finance, insurance, and real estate (separate data for health service, hospitals, business services, and educational services); services; and nonmanufacturing; (2) occupational groups: White-collar (professional specialty and technical; executive, administrative, and managerial; sales workers; clerical workers); blue-collar: Precision production, craft, and repair; machine operators, assemblers, and inspectors; transportation and material moving; handlers, equipment cleaners, helpers, and laborers; and service workers; (3) bargaining statusùunion and nonunion for manufacturing, nonmanufacturing, goods-producing, and service-producing; (4) areasùmetropolitan and other areas; (5) geographic regionsùNortheast, south, Midwest, and West. State and local governments: (1) Industry divisionsùservices (separate data for hospitals and schools) and public administration; (2) occupational groupsùwhite-collar workers (professional speciality and technical; executive, administrative, and managerial; and clerical workers); and blue-collar workers.

• Benefit cost measures only: Civilian economy: All workers. Private economy: (1) Industry sectorsùmanufacturing; nonmanufacturing; goods-producing; service producing; (2) occupational groupsùwhite-collar; blue-collar; service workers; (3) bargaining statusùnion and nonunion workers. State and local government: All workers.

Coverage

• Currently includes all private industry and State and local government workers and excludes Federal Government, farm, household, self-employed, proprietors, and unpaid family workers.

Source of data

• Survey of a sample of approximately 23,000 occupations within 4,600 establishments in the private economy, and 7,000 occupations within 1,000 establishments in State and local governments.

Reference period

• Pay period including the 12th of the survey months of March, June, September, and December.

Forms of publication

• Annual bulletin, Employment Cost Indexes and Levels.
• Quarterly news releaseùEmployment Cost Indexù1 month after reference month. Electronic access available.
• Quarterly, in the monthly publications, Compensation and Working Conditions and Monthly Labor Review.
• Data files on tape and disketteù-historical and current data.
• Uses
• Setting of monetary policy by the Federal Reserve Board
• Other public and private policy review.
• General economic analysis, including trends in labor costs.
• Adjusting allowable hospital reimbursement under Medicare.
• Escalation in long-term contracts.
• Collective bargaining.
• Adjusting pay of Federal Government employees, Congress, Federal judges, and top government officials.

Major research in progress

• Additional wage and salary, benefit cost, and compensation series.
• Development of a public use data tape.
• Introduction of 1990 fixed employment weights.

Employer Costs for Employee Compensation

Data available

• Employer costs per hour worked for wages and salaries and individual benefits or benefit categories for: Private economy: Industry divisionùgoods producing; construction; durable and nondurable goods manufacturing; service producing; trans-portation, communication, and public utilities; wholesale and retail trade combined and separately; finance, insurance, and real estate; services; and nonmanufacturing; (2) occupational groupsùwhite-collar workers (professional specialty and technical; executive, administrative, and managerial; sales workers; clerical workers): blue-collar workers (precision production, craft, and repair; machine operators, assemblers, and inspectors; transportation and material moving; handlers, equipment cleaners, helpers, and laborers); and service workers; (3) bargaining statusùunion and nonunion for manufacturing, nonmanufacturing, goods producing, and service producing; (4) areasùmetropolitan and other areas; (5) geographic regionsùNortheast, South, Midwest, and West; (6) establishment employment sizeùunder 100 employees, 100-499 employees, and 500 employees or more. State and local governments: (1) occupational groupsùwhite-collar (professional specialty and technical, executives, administrative and managerial, clerical), blue-collar, and service; (2) industry groupsùservices (health services including hospitals, and educational services) and public administration.

Coverage

• Currently includes all civilian workers; all workers in private industry, excluding farm, household, self-employed, proprietors, and unpaid family members; all workers in State and local governments.

Source of data

• The Employment Cost Index survey, a sample of approximately 23,000 occupations within 4,600 establishment in private industry and 7,000 occupations within 1,000 establishments in State and local governments.

Reference period

• The pay period including the 12th of March.

Forms of publication

• Annual news releaseùEmployer Costs for Employee Compensationùissued in mid-June.
• Annual bulletinùEmployment Cost Indexes and Levels.

Uses

• Collective bargaining and other pay determination.
• General economic analysis, including studies of the structure of employee compensation.
• Public and private policy review.

Major research in progress

• Publication of additional series.
• Compensation cost levels by part-time/full-time status

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