(202) 691-5902 In This Release Is Embargoed — 2007-04-27

Total compensation costs for civilian workers increased 0.8 percent from December 2006 to March 2007, seasonally adjusted, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. This was about the same as the 0.9 percent increase for the September to December 2006 period. Wages and salaries rose 1.1 percent for the three-month period, compared with 0.7 percent for the previous period. Benefit costs changed by 0.1 percent, after an increase of 1.1 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). Increases in wages and salaries accounted for 84 percent of the rise in compensation costs for civilian workers from December 2006 to March 2007, not seasonally adjusted.