Employment Cost Index Health Benefits www.bls.gov
November 2013 Note: Employment Cost Index data for September 2012 and December 2012 contained errors in several series, including this health benefits series, that were statistically significant. These errors have been corrected in this listing. For further information see www.bls.gov/eci_corrections_043013.htm. Employment Cost Index, private industry, 12‐month percent change in employer costs per hour worked, total benefits and health benefits
Percent change
24.0
21.0
18.0
15.0
Health benefits
12.0
9.0
6.0
Total benefits
3.0
0.0
‐3.0
82
84
86
88
90
92
94
96
98
00
02
04
06
08
10
12
14
Health benefits: Year March 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 14.7 23.5 17.6 8.5 3.9 4.7 10.5 13.6 12.2 11.5 10.3 8.1 5.7 1.6 ‐0.3 0.2 June 16.2 22.4 15.9 6.7 3.5 6.1 12.2 13.4 12.0 11.1 9.6 7.8 5.0 0.6 0.1 0.7 Sept. 18.1 21.3 13.1 6.5 3.6 5.5 13.9 13.7 11.5 10.9 9.2 7.2 4.3 ‐0.1 0.7 0.8 Dec. 18.3 20.4 12.5 5.2 4.1 6.3 14.7 12.8 11.3 11.2 8.6 6.9 3.9 0.1 0.4 0.9 Year 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 March 2.2 3.7 7.6 8.1 10.5 9.8 9.3 7.5 4.8 4.9 4.6 4.6 4.5 3.4 3.0 3.0 June 2.6 4.0 8.0 8.6 11.4 10.3 8.1 6.3 5.2 4.8 4.2 4.4 5.0 3.6 2.4 2.6 Sept. 2.2 5.0 8.5 8.7 11.2 10.1 7.3 6.7 4.9 4.8 3.9 4.6 4.8 3.4 2.3* 2.7 Dec. 2.5 5.8 8.5 9.2 10.2 10.5 7.3 6.4 4.9 4.8 3.5 4.3 5.0 3.5 2.1* *
See note at the top of this page. See notes on back. Office of Compensation Levels and Trends • [email protected] • www.bls.gov/ect • 202.691.6199
NOTES: Data in this listing include corrections for the June 2009 through September 2010, September 2012, and December 2012 reference periods. For further information, see: bls.gov/bls/eci_corrections_111910.htm and bls.gov/bls/eci_corrections_043013.htm. Data in all historical listings, ECI standard error tables, and the seasonal factors and revised seasonally adjusted indexes tables have been reissued with the corrected data. Also, data in the selective access system at bls.gov/ect/data.htm have been updated with the corrected data. The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes a quarterly index, the Employment Cost Index (ECI) that includes measures of change in the cost of employee benefits. Data are collected for individual benefits within several benefit categories: paid leave, supplemental pay, insurance benefits, retirement and savings, legally required benefits, and other benefits. The measure of change in the cost of health benefits presented here is the only benefit for which BLS makes separate data available.
The 12‐month percent change in health benefit costs from the ECI should be used with caution. First, employer nonresponse for the health benefit component is substantial, which may affect the quality of the estimate. Second, there are fewer observations supporting health benefit estimates as compared with total benefit estimates. Finally, in some cases, respondents are able to report only a single cost for a combination of benefits (for example, life insurance and health benefits); in these instances, BLS allocates the cost among the benefits. Users should also be aware that the ECI may understate health insurer increases for a fixed set of plans because employers may reduce their contributions or employees may switch to lower cost health plans where there is an employee contribution. For these reasons, please exercise care in using and interpreting these estimates. For further information see: “Health Insurance Series Now Available from the Employment Cost Index” at: bls.gov/opub/cwc/cm20030825ar01p1.htm. Office of Compensation Levels and Trends • [email protected] • www.bls.gov/ect • 202.691.6199