Release Is Embargoed — 1996-10-29

The Employment Cost Index (ECI) increased 0.8 percent before seasonal adjustment in the three months that ended September 1996, the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. The ECI measures changes in compensation costs, which include wages, salaries, and employer costs for employee benefits. The September 1996 ECI level of 130.2 was 2.8 percent higher than the level in September 1995. On a seasonally adjusted basis, compensation costs for civilian workers (private industry plus state and local governments) rose 0.6 percent during the June-September 1996 period. The March-June 1996 increase was 0.8 percent. Wages and salaries increased 0.6 percent from June to September, following gains of 0.9 and 1.0 percent in the second and first quarters of 1996. Benefit costs also increased 0.6 percent in September, about the same as in June; in March, there was no change in benefit costs. Table A.