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/regions/west/news-release/employmentcostindex_seattle.htm.

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 4.8 percent from December 2013 to December 2014, compared to the U.S. average of 2.3 percent
• Seattle tied for the largest total compensation  percent increase of the 15 largest metro areas nationwide
• Local wages and salaries increased 2.7 percent over the year, above the U.S. average increase of 2.2 percent
• Since 2012 employer costs for employee compensation in the Seattle area have risen on average 2.6 percent annually.