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 1.7% from March 2013 to March 2014, equal to the U.S. average
• Seattle had the 2nd largest total compensation % increase of the 4 large metro areas in the West (San Jose – 3.6%, Seattle – 1.7%, Phoenix – 1.4%, Los Angeles – 1.3%)
• Local wages and salaries increased 1.7% over the year, equal to the U.S. average increase
• Since 2012 employer costs for employee compensation in the Seattle area have risen on average 2.4% annually