TRANSMISSION OF MATERIAL IN THIS RELEASE IS EMBARGOED UNTIL                                USDL-12-1528
8:30 A.M. (EDT) TUESDAY, JULY 31, 2012


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                             EMPLOYMENT COST INDEX - JUNE 2012

Compensation costs for civilian workers increased 0.5 percent, seasonally adjusted, for the 3-month 
period ending June 2012, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Wages and salaries 
(which make up about 70 percent of compensation costs) increased 0.4 percent, and benefits (which 
make up the remaining 30 percent of compensation) increased 0.6 percent. //ECI ZUNI3PO Testing 10272020//

Civilian Workers

Compensation costs for civilian workers increased 1.7 percent for the 12-month period ending 
June 2012. In June 2011 the increase was 2.2 percent. Wages and salaries increased 1.7 percent for the 
current 12-month period, essentially unchanged from a year ago when wages and salaries increased 
1.6 percent. Benefit costs increased 2.1 percent for the 12-month period ending June 2012 down from 
the June 2011 increase, which was 3.6 percent.

Private Industry Workers

Compensation costs for private industry workers increased 1.8 percent over the year. In June 2011 the 
increase was 2.3 percent. Wages and salaries increased 1.8 percent for the current 12-month period. The 
increase for the 12-month period ending June 2011 was 1.7 percent. The increase in the cost of benefits 
was 1.9 percent for the 12-month period ending June 2012, down from the June 2011 increase of 
4.0 percent. Employer costs for health benefits decelerated over the year to a 2.4 percent increase, down 
from the June 2011 increase of 3.6 percent.

Among occupational groups, compensation cost increases for private industry workers for the 
12-month period ending June 2012 ranged from 1.4 percent for production, transportation, and material 
moving occupations to 2.3 percent for sales and office occupations.

Among industry supersectors, compensation cost increases for private industry workers for the current 
12-month period ranged from 1.2 percent for both leisure and hospitality and manufacturing to 
3.7 percent for information.

State and Local Government Workers

Compensation costs for state and local government workers increased 1.6 percent for the 12-month 
period ending June 2012, essentially unchanged from the June 2011 increase of 1.7 percent. Values for 
this series—which began in June 1982—have ranged from 1.3 percent to 9.6 percent. Wages and 
salaries increased 1.1 percent for the 12-month period ending June 2012. A year earlier the increase was 
1.2 percent. Prior values for this series, which also began in June 1982, ranged from 1.0 percent to 
8.5 percent. Benefit costs increased 2.7 percent in June 2012. In June 2011 the increase was 3.0 percent. 
Prior values for this series, which began in June 1990, ranged from 1.2 percent to 8.3 percent.

________________________

The Employment Cost Index for September 2012 is scheduled to be released on 
Wednesday, October 31, 2012, at 8:30 a.m. (EDT).

Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request— 
Voice phone:  (202) 691-5200; Federal Relay Service:  (800) 877-8339.

BLS news releases, including the ECI, are available through an e-mail subscription service at: 
www.bls.gov/bls/list.htm.


__________________________________________________________________________________________

Table A.  Major series of the Employment Cost Index
(Percent change)

Category                   3-month,                        12-month,
                     seasonally adjusted             not seasonally adjusted
                         Mar.    June            June    Sep.   Dec.   Mar.   June
                         2012    2012            2011    2011   2011   2012   2012
___________________________________________________________________________________________
   CIVILIAN WORKERS[1]

Compensation[2]          0.4     0.5             2.2     2.0    2.0    1.9    1.7
Wages and salaries       0.5     0.4             1.6     1.6    1.4    1.7    1.7
Benefits                 0.5     0.6             3.6     3.2    3.2    2.7    2.1

   PRIVATE INDUSTRY

Compensation[2]          0.4     0.5             2.3     2.1    2.2    2.1    1.8
Wages and salaries       0.5     0.4             1.7     1.7    1.6    1.9    1.8
Benefits                 0.3     0.6             4.0     3.3    3.6    2.8    1.9

   STATE AND LOCAL
     GOVERNMENT

Compensation[2]          0.7     0.5             1.7     1.5    1.3    1.5    1.6
Wages and salaries       0.4     0.3             1.2     1.0    1.0    1.0    1.1
Benefits                 1.1     0.9             3.0     2.5    2.1    2.3    2.7
__________________________________________________________________________________________

[1] Includes private industry and State and local government.
[2] Includes wages and salaries and benefits.




                                      TECHNICAL NOTE

      The Employment Cost Index (ECI) measures the change in the cost of labor, free from the 
influence of employment shifts among occupations and industries. Detailed information on survey 
concepts, coverage, and methods can be found in BLS Handbook of Methods, Chapter 8, “National 
Compensation Measures,” Bureau of Labor Statistics, on the Internet at 
www.bls.gov/opub/hom/pdf/homch8.pdf.

Sample size

      Data for the June 2012 reference period were collected from a probability sample of 
approximately 47,400 occupational observations selected from a sample of about 9,500 establishments in 
private industry and approximately 9,200 occupations from a sample of about 1,400 establishments in 
state and local governments.

Health insurance data

      Data from the ECI that provide 12-month percent changes in employer costs for health insurance 
in private industry are available at www.bls.gov/ect/sp/echealth.pdf.

Historical listings

      Historical listings that provide all ECI data are available at www.bls.gov/ect/#tables. Included 
among these listings is one that provides continuous occupational and industry series. This listing uses 
the Standard Industrial Classification Manual and Census of Population series through 2005 and the 
North American Industry Classification System and Standard Occupational Classification from 2006 to 
the present. It provides the official series from the beginning of the ECI in 1975 through the current 
quarter. For more information on the criteria used in defining continuous series, see the article published 
in the Monthly Labor Review at www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2006/04/art2full.pdf.

Employer Costs for Employee Compensation data

      The costs per hour worked of compensation components, based on data from the ECI, are 
published in a separate news release titled "Employer Costs for Employee Compensation" (ECEC). The 
next ECEC release is scheduled for 10:00 a.m. (EDT), Tuesday, September 11, 2012. Historical ECEC 
data are available in summary documents at www.bls.gov/ect/#tables. Since the ECEC is calculated with 
current employment weights rather than the fixed weights used in computing the ECI, year-to-year 
changes in the cost levels usually differ from those in the ECI.