(202) 691-5902 In This Release Is Embargoed — 2007-07-31

Total compensation costs for civilian workers increased 0.9 percent from March to June 2007, seasonally adjusted, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. This was about the same as the 0.8 percent increase for the December 2006 to March 2007 period. Wages and salaries rose 0.8 percent from March to June 2007, compared with 1.1 percent for the previous quarter. Benefit costs increased 1.3 percent, up from 0.1 percent during the previous three-month period. The Employment Cost Index (ECI), a component of the National Compensation Survey, measures quarterly changes in compensation costs, which include wages, salaries, and employer costs for employee benefits for civilian workers (nonfarm private industry and state and local government). Wage and salary costs, which account for 70 percent of total civilian compensation costs, were responsible for 63 percent of the increase in compensation costs for this quarter.