The Employment Cost Index in 1980: a first look at total compensation

Total compensation change (i.e., wages and salaries and employer costs for employee benefits) was measured for the first full year in 1980 by the Employment Cost Index (ECI). With the 1980 inclusion of fringe benefits, the index increased 9.8%. However, wages and salaries still account for about three-quarters of total compensation. Among occupational groups, blue-collar workers showed the largest compensation gain (10.1%) during 1980, while service workers showed the smallest (9.4%). The compensation gain of white-collar workers averaged 9.5%. For most groups of workers, 1980 registered the highest rise in wages and salaries since the onset of the ECI in 1975. Several economic factors, such as private nonfarm-sector unemployment, cyclical collective bargaining, minimum wage increases, etc., are vital to interpreting the trend of the wages and salaries component in the ECI for the overall private nonfarm sector and the individual series.