Trends: Bureau of Labor Statistics
Employment Cost Index: Wages and Salaries
Over the 12 months ended Jun. 2026, wages and salaries rose 3.2% for civilian workers, 3.1% in private industry and 3.4% in state and local government, not seasonally adjusted, in the Employment Cost Index released 2026-07-31. The tables below are BLS Tables 8, 9 and 11, restricted to the 12-month columns; the three-month columns are on the quarterly page.
Civilian workers: 12-month percent change in wages and salaries
| Percent changes for / 12-months ended- | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Occupational group and industry | Jun. 2025 | Mar. 2026 | Jun. 2026 |
| All workers (1) | 3.6 | 3.4 | 3.2 |
| Excluding incentive paid occupations (2) | 3.6 | 3.3 | 3.2 |
| Occupational group | |||
| Management, professional, and related | 3.5 | 3.4 | 3.3 |
| Management, business, and financial | 3.3 | 2.9 | 3.0 |
| Professional and related | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.5 |
| Sales and office | 3.7 | 3.2 | 2.4 |
| Sales and related | 4.1 | 2.7 | 1.4 |
| Office and administrative support | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.2 |
| Natural resources, construction, and maintenance | 3.9 | 3.8 | 3.8 |
| Construction, extraction, farming, fishing, and forestry occupations | 4.0 | 3.8 | 3.9 |
| Installation, maintenance, and repair | 3.8 | 3.9 | 3.7 |
| Production, transportation, and material moving | 3.5 | 3.2 | 3.2 |
| Production | 3.6 | 3.2 | 3.4 |
| Transportation and material moving | 3.5 | 3.2 | 3.1 |
| Service occupations | 3.7 | 3.3 | 3.4 |
| Industry | |||
| Goods-producing industries (3) | 3.9 | 3.2 | 3.4 |
| Manufacturing | 3.6 | 3.3 | 3.3 |
| Service-providing industries (4) | 3.6 | 3.4 | 3.2 |
| Education and health services | 4.1 | 3.8 | 3.6 |
| Educational services | 3.5 | 3.7 | 3.7 |
| Elementary and secondary schools | 3.3 | 3.7 | 3.7 |
| Junior colleges, colleges, and universities | 4.0 | 3.3 | 3.3 |
| Health care and social assistance | 4.5 | 3.9 | 3.6 |
| Hospitals | 4.4 | 3.2 | 3.2 |
| Nursing and residential care facilities | 3.4 | 3.1 | 3.0 |
| Public administration | 4.1 | 3.2 | 3.3 |
- (1) Includes workers in the private nonfarm economy except those in private households, and workers in the public sector, except the federal government.
- (2) The index for this series is not strictly comparable with other series in this table.
- (3) Includes mining, construction, and manufacturing.
- (4) Includes the following industries: wholesale trade; retail trade; transportation and warehousing; utilities; information; finance and insurance; real estate and rental and leasing; professional and technical services; management of companies and enterprises; administrative and waste services; educational services; health care and social assistance; arts, entertainment and recreation; accommodation and food services; other services, except public administration; and public administration.
Private industry workers
| Percent changes for / 12-months ended- | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Occupational group and industry | Jun. 2025 | Mar. 2026 | Jun. 2026 |
| All workers | 3.5 | 3.4 | 3.1 |
| Excluding incentive paid occupations (1) | 3.5 | 3.2 | 3.2 |
| Occupational group | |||
| Management, professional, and related | 3.5 | 3.4 | 3.3 |
| Excluding incentive paid occupations (1) | 3.5 | 3.3 | 3.2 |
| Management, business, and financial | 3.2 | 3.0 | 3.0 |
| Excluding incentive paid occupations (1) | 3.2 | 2.9 | 2.8 |
| Professional and related | 3.7 | 3.8 | 3.5 |
| Sales and office | 3.7 | 3.1 | 2.3 |
| Excluding incentive paid occupations (1) | 3.2 | 2.9 | 2.8 |
| Sales and related | 4.1 | 2.7 | 1.4 |
| Excluding incentive paid occupations (1) | 3.1 | 2.3 | 2.3 |
| Office and administrative support | 3.3 | 3.6 | 3.2 |
| Natural resources, construction, and maintenance | 3.9 | 3.9 | 3.8 |
| Construction, extraction, farming, fishing, and forestry occupations | 4.0 | 3.8 | 3.9 |
| Installation, maintenance, and repair | 3.9 | 3.9 | 3.7 |
| Production, transportation, and material moving | 3.5 | 3.2 | 3.2 |
| Excluding incentive paid occupations (1) | 3.5 | 3.2 | 3.2 |
| Production | 3.5 | 3.2 | 3.4 |
| Excluding incentive paid occupations (1) | 3.6 | 3.1 | 3.4 |
| Transportation and material moving | 3.5 | 3.2 | 3.1 |
| Service occupations | 3.6 | 3.3 | 3.3 |
| Industry and occupational group | |||
| Goods-producing industries (2) | 3.9 | 3.2 | 3.4 |
| Excluding incentive paid occupations (1) | 3.8 | 3.3 | 3.4 |
| Management, professional, and related | 3.8 | 2.8 | 3.0 |
| Sales and office | 4.4 | 2.7 | 2.6 |
| Natural resources, construction, and maintenance | 4.0 | 3.8 | 3.9 |
| Production, transportation, and material moving | 3.8 | 3.1 | 3.5 |
| Construction | 4.2 | 3.1 | 3.5 |
| Manufacturing | 3.6 | 3.3 | 3.3 |
| Management, professional, and related | 3.4 | 3.1 | 2.9 |
| Sales and office | 3.0 | 3.2 | 2.7 |
| Natural resources, construction, and maintenance | 4.6 | 4.6 | 4.2 |
| Production, transportation, and material moving | 3.7 | 3.3 | 3.6 |
| Aircraft manufacturing | 4.9 | 3.8 | 3.1 |
| Service-providing industries (3) | 3.5 | 3.4 | 3.1 |
| Excluding incentive paid occupations (1) | 3.4 | 3.3 | 3.1 |
| Management, professional, and related | 3.4 | 3.5 | 3.3 |
| Sales and office | 3.6 | 3.2 | 2.3 |
| Natural resources, construction, and maintenance | 3.9 | 3.9 | 3.8 |
| Production, transportation, and material moving | 3.3 | 3.2 | 3.1 |
| Service occupations | 3.6 | 3.3 | 3.3 |
| Trade, transportation, and utilities | 3.3 | 3.5 | 3.3 |
| Excluding incentive paid occupations (1) | 3.1 | 2.9 | 3.0 |
| Wholesale trade | 2.8 | 3.7 | 3.0 |
| Excluding incentive paid occupations (1) | 2.6 | 2.4 | 2.6 |
| Retail trade | 3.1 | 3.1 | 3.4 |
| Excluding incentive paid occupations (1) | 3.0 | 2.7 | 3.1 |
| Transportation and warehousing | 3.8 | 4.0 | 3.3 |
| Utilities | 4.1 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| Information | 3.1 | 3.5 | 2.9 |
| Financial activities | 4.3 | 4.1 | 3.1 |
| Excluding incentive paid occupations (1) | 3.4 | 3.0 | 2.7 |
| Finance and insurance | 4.0 | 4.2 | 3.3 |
| Credit intermediation and related activities | 3.3 | 3.0 | 2.4 |
| Excluding incentive paid occupations (1) | 3.1 | 2.6 | 2.5 |
| Insurance carriers and related activities | 3.6 | 2.9 | 2.8 |
| Excluding incentive paid occupations (1) | 3.4 | 2.9 | 2.7 |
| Real estate and rental and leasing | 5.3 | 3.7 | 2.2 |
| Excluding incentive paid occupations (1) | 4.0 | 3.6 | 2.9 |
| Professional and business services | 3.0 | 2.6 | 2.5 |
| Professional, scientific, and technical services | 3.3 | 2.7 | 2.6 |
| Administrative and support and waste management and remediation services | 3.2 | 2.5 | 2.6 |
| Education and health services | 4.3 | 4.0 | 3.7 |
| Educational services | 2.9 | 3.9 | 4.2 |
| Junior colleges, colleges, universities, and professional schools | 3.8 | 3.1 | 3.2 |
| Health care and social assistance | 4.5 | 4.0 | 3.6 |
| Hospitals | 4.4 | 3.1 | 3.2 |
| Nursing and residential care facilities | 3.4 | 3.0 | 3.0 |
| Nursing care facilities (1) | 3.5 | 3.2 | 2.9 |
| Leisure and hospitality | 2.9 | 2.5 | 2.5 |
| Accommodation and food service | 3.1 | 2.4 | 2.3 |
| Other services, except public administration | 2.8 | 4.0 | 3.6 |
- (1) The index for this series is not strictly comparable with other series in this table.
- (2) Includes mining, construction, and manufacturing.
- (3) Includes the following industries: wholesale trade; retail trade; transportation and warehousing; utilities; information; finance and insurance; real estate and rental and leasing; professional and technical services; management of companies and enterprises; administrative and waste services; educational services; health care and social assistance; arts, entertainment and recreation; accommodation and food services; and other services, except public administration.
State and local government workers
| Percent changes for / 12-months ended- | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Occupational group and industry | Jun. 2025 | Mar. 2026 | Jun. 2026 |
| All workers | 3.9 | 3.4 | 3.4 |
| Occupational group | |||
| Management, professional, and related | 3.7 | 3.4 | 3.3 |
| Professional and related | 3.7 | 3.6 | 3.5 |
| Sales and office | 4.2 | 3.5 | 3.4 |
| Office and administrative support | 4.1 | 3.5 | 3.4 |
| Service occupations | 4.1 | 3.7 | 3.9 |
| Industry | |||
| Education and health services | 3.7 | 3.5 | 3.5 |
| Educational services | 3.6 | 3.6 | 3.5 |
| Schools | 3.6 | 3.6 | 3.5 |
| Elementary and secondary schools | 3.4 | 3.6 | 3.6 |
| Health care and social assistance | 4.4 | 3.6 | 3.3 |
| Hospitals | 4.6 | 3.8 | 3.3 |
| Public administration | 4.1 | 3.2 | 3.3 |
Reading this table
The Employment Cost Index (ECI) measures the change over time in the cost of labor for a fixed set of jobs. BLS collects wage and benefit data for specific occupations within sampled establishments and weights them by fixed employment weights, so a change in the index reflects changes in pay rates, not changes in which jobs exist or who holds them. Wages and salaries means straight-time hourly earnings before deductions, excluding premium pay for overtime and shift work, and excluding benefits; BLS publishes separate indexes for benefits and for total compensation.
Civilian workers are private industry plus state and local government; federal workers, farm workers, private household workers and the self-employed are out of scope. The 12-month percent change compares the index for the month shown with the same month a year earlier and is not seasonally adjusted; these tables show the three most recent such comparisons. An occupational group row follows the Standard Occupational Classification; an industry row follows NAICS. Index levels (December 2005 = 100) and the three-month changes BLS prints in the same tables are on the quarterly page. The ECI is the series the statutory military pay raise and many contract escalators reference, which is why the federal pay pages point here.
Source, release and next release
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Cost Index (USDL-26-1270), released ; reference period June 2026 (second quarter 2026).
- Next release: (Third Quarter 2026), per the BLS release calendar.
- Table: Table 8. Employment Cost Index for wages and salaries, for civilian workers, by occupational group and industry, fetched (SHA-256 e1498bb9e8f9…).
- Table: Table 9. Employment Cost Index for wages and salaries, for private industry workers, by occupational group and industry, fetched (SHA-256 fdb80076af37…).
- Table: Table 11. Employment Cost Index for wages and salaries, for state and local government workers, by occupational group and industry, fetched (SHA-256 1febc7e063a1…).
- Figures are shown as published; this site does not seasonally adjust, deflate, interpolate or extend any series.