Employment Cost Index - December 1996 — 1997-01-28

The Employment Cost Index (ECI) for December 1996 was 130.9 (June 1989=100), an increase of 2.9 percent from December 1995, 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. On a seasonally adjusted basis, compensation costs for civilian workers (private industry plus state and local governments) increased 0.8 percent in the three months that ended December 1996. This continued a pattern of increases that have ranged from 0.6 to 0.8 percent for the last three years. Wages and salaries increased 0.8 percent during the September-December 1996 period. The increase for the June-September period was 0.6 percent. Benefit costs increased 0.7 percent in December; in September, these costs increased 0.6 percent. Compensation costs for private industry workers increased 0.8 percent during the September-December 1996 period.