<H3>• U.S. Employment Cost Index — March 2015</H3>

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Compensation costs for civilian workers increased 0.7 percent, seasonally adjusted, for the 3-month period ending March 2015, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Wages and salaries (which make up about 70 percent of compensation costs) increased 0.7 percent, and benefits (which make up the remaining 30 percent of compensation) increased 0.6 percent. Civilian Workers: Compensation costs for civilian workers increased 2.6 percent for the 12-month period ending March 2015, rising from the March 2014 increase in compensation costs of 1.8 percent. Wages and salaries increased 2.6 percent for the 12-month period ending March 2015, which was higher than the 1.6-percent increase in March 2014. Benefit costs increased 2.7 percent for the 12-month period ending March 2015, compared with a 2.1-percent increase for the 12-month period ending March 2014. Private Industry Workersa: Compensation costs for private industry workers increased 2.8 percent over the year, higher than the March 2014 increase of 1.7 percent. Wages and salaries increased 2.8 percent for the current 12-month period ending March 2015, also higher than the March 2014 increase of 1.7 percent. The cost of benefits rose 2.6 percent for the 12-month period ending March 2015, which was higher than March 2014, when the increase was 1.8 percent. Employer costs for health benefits increased 2.5 percent over the year. The 12-month percent change for March 2014 was an increase of 2.4 percent. State and Local Government Workers: Compensation costs for state and local government workers increased 2.1 percent for the 12-month period ending March 2015, compared with a 1.9-percent increase for March 2014. Wages and salaries increased 1.8 percent for the 12-month period ending March 2015. In March 2014, the increase was 1.2 percent. Benefit costs increased 2.8 percent in March 2015. In March 2014, the increase was 3.0 percent. Please visit this link to read the full report: USDOL-BLS NOTE: This report is provided with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in providing legal, financial, accounting or other professional advice. If professional assistance is required, the services of a competent professional should be sought. Furthermore, while we do our best to ensure that these data are accurate, we suggest that any entity making decisions based on these numbers should verify the data at their source prior to making such decisions. © 2015 Connecticut Human Resource Reports, LLC URL: http://connecticuthumanresources.blogspot.com/

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