Employment Wages QoQ

Employment Wages QoQ is the 3-month % change in the Employment Cost Index (ECI), a quarterly straight-time wage-cost gauge from the National Compensation Survey. It covers civilian workers, meaning private plus state and local government workers, with seasonal adjustment that removes normal calendar effects. It tracks a fixed basket of jobs, a set held constant so shifts between occupations cannot move it, unlike average earnings, a mean of pay. Running since 1975, it excludes federal, farm, household and self-employed workers, tips and overtime premiums counted as benefits, with no state estimates.

Data cover the pay period with the 12th of March, June, September and December for release in January, April, July and October. Release comes about 4 weeks after quarter-end under embargo until 8:30 AM Eastern Time.

The release shows compensation, meaning wages plus benefits, base December 2005 = 100, 3-month and 12-month changes, splits and price-removed series for policy and pay. Unadjusted data are final, while adjusted series are revised for 5 years each year. Focus stays on the 3-month change, where higher means faster growth and no level is good. Errors are corrected in a republished release with a note.

Wage growth moves with straight-time pay pressure and benefit costs across jobs and sectors.

• Wages and salaries, 70%: straight-time pay with commissions, production bonuses, piece rates, cost-of-living, hazard, longevity and waiting-time pay.
• Benefits: employer costs for paid leave, supplemental pay including overtime, shift and bonus extras, insurance, retirement and legally required payments.

The September 2024 quarter, released October 31, 2024, showed civilian compensation up 0.8% on quarter with wages up 0.8% and benefits up 0.8%. The wage index rose from 165.5 to 166.8 with base December 2005 = 100.

Over 12 months, compensation rose 3.9%, wages 3.9% and benefits 3.7%, while price-removed wages rose 1.2%. Union wages rose 6.4% over 12 months against 3.6% for nonunion, yet national 12-month wages were 3.9% because fixed weights limit small-cell pull. The 12-month wage pace fell from 4.6% 1 year earlier to 3.9% while the quarterly pace held at 0.8%, showing deceleration to watch.

1. Index: The ECI is a modified Laspeyres index, meaning a fixed-employment-weighted gauge, with base December 2005 = 100. Regional, union and incentive indexes reuse the prior quarter sample, so they are not strictly fixed-weight.
2. Cells: 765 basic cells by industry and occupation hold employment fixed from the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey, so shifts cannot move them.
3. Quotes: Each cell compares matched quotes, meaning the same jobs reporting 2 quarters, with quarter change as current index over prior index minus 1.
4. Example: Take 2 cells: A at $25.00 with 1,000 workers for $25,000 and B at $40.00 with 500 workers for $20,000, base total $45,000. With gains of 1.0% and 0.5%, ratios 1.010 and 1.005, bills are $25,250 and $20,100 for $45,350. The index is 100.78, so quarter change is 0.8%.
5. Adjustment: Seasonal adjustment uses X-13ARIMA-SEATS, a Census program that removes calendar effects, directly for details and indirectly for aggregates. Adjusted components sum to weights of 1.0, with new factors each year. Price-removed values divide the index by consumer prices rebased to December 2005, measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers. For March 2022, 149.6 divided by 287.504 over 196.8, or 1.461, gives 102.4.