The latest BLS News Release showing total compensation costs for private industry workers in the Seattle-Tacoma-Olympia metropolitan area is now available online at http://www.bls.gov/ro9/eciseat.pdf.

This release covers data from the Employment Cost Index, a quarterly survey which measures changes in labor costs (employee wages and employee benefits) over time.  Items of note include:

• Local total compensation costs (wages + benefits) for private industry workers increased 3.1 percent from September 2013 to September 2014, compared to the U.S. average of 2.3 percent
• Seattle had the 2nd largest total compensation  percent increase of the 4 large metro areas in the West (San Jose – 3.9 percent, Seattle – 3 .1 percent, Los Angeles – 2.6 percent, Phoenix – 1.1 percent)
• Local wages and salaries increased 1.4 percent over the year, below the U.S. average increase of 2.3 percent
• Since 2012 employer costs for employee compensation in the Seattle area have risen on average 2.3 percent annually