Total compensation costs for the private sector increased 1.0 percent from March
to June 2004, seasonally adjusted, after advancing 1.1 percent in the previous
quarter, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported.
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Get Your Report Now!Benefit costs rose 1.7 percent for the June quarter, moderating from the 2.6
percent gain in the previous quarter. Among private industry workers, benefit
costs were one-half of compensation gains during the quarter, with health insurance
and defined benefit retirement costs combined accounting for one-quarter of
the rise in compensation costs.
For state and local government workers, compensation costs increased 1.1 percent
from March to June, compared with a gain of 1.0 percent for the quarter ended
in March.
During the quarter, wages and salaries for workers in private industry increased
0.6 percent, identical to the increase for the previous quarter.