Economic Impact Group, LLC Economic Data Brief
 
Labor market

Employment Cost Index — Q2 2026

Released August 3, 2026 · Bureau of Labor Statistics · full release · charts & history on EconomicsGuru
Total compensation, all civilian workers rose 0.9% in Q2 2026 to 177.2, +3.4% from a year ago. Prior quarter: 175.6.
Total comp
177.2
▲ +0.9% m/m
· +3.4% y/y
Wages
179.0
▲ +0.9% m/m
· +3.1% y/y
Benefits
170.6
▲ +0.9% m/m
· +3.8% y/y
Hold — data may be stale. The newest data available is Q2 2026, but the release calendar says Q2 2026 should be out by now. The agency may have slipped, or the source has not ingested it yet — this report covers Q2 2026.

Revision check

Revision check clear. Prior periods were checked against the agency's original published figures — no revisions found. All changes below are computed on current-vintage data.

Key figures

Headline →Q2 2026Q1 2026M/M chgM/M %Y/Y chgY/Y %12-period trend
Total compensation, all civilian workers
Dec 2005=100, SA — the Fed's cleanest read on labour costs
177.2175.6▲ +1.6▲ +0.9%▲ +5.8▲ +3.4%
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Wages and salaries, private industry179.0177.5▲ +1.5▲ +0.9%▲ +5.4▲ +3.1%
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Benefits, private industry170.6169.0▲ +1.5▲ +0.9%▲ +6.2▲ +3.8%
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Trend bars show year-over-year % change over the last 13 periods; the latest period is highlighted.

What stood out

  • Wages and salaries, private industry: up 3.1% from a year ago — the slowest pace since Q1 2021.
  • Total compensation, all civilian workers: up 3.4% from a year ago — the slowest pace since Q2 2021.
  • Benefits, private industry: up 3.8% from a year ago — the fastest pace since Q3 2023.
  • The 1.5% quarterly gain in Wages and salaries, private industry (constant composition) is the biggest since Q2 2022.

Full detail

Show every category and subcategory
Full detail →Q2 2026Q1 2026M/M chgM/M %Y/Y chgY/Y %
Wages and salaries, private industry (constant composition)
strips out shifts in the mix of jobs — the underlying wage signal
174.3171.8▲ +2.5▲ +1.5%▲ +5.9▲ +3.5%

Sources

Economic Impact Group, LLC
Economic research for developing communities
Prepared 2026-08-03 15:45 UTC. Green marks an increase, red a decrease — direction only, not good or bad.