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The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) was established in 1884. Throughout its history, it has consistently focused on collecting high-quality data for various aspects of the nation’s economy including the conditions of employee compensation. Although the focus and scope of the compensation surveys has changed over time (owing to legislative direction, emerging trends, and requests from the data user community), BLS has provided information on employee compensation essentially since the beginning of BLS. The first BLS study of occupational wages was conducted in 1885.
Hover over the red dot to see historical information.
The NCS, introduced in 1996, collects a broad range of compensation data that formerly had been collected under three separate BLS programs. The Employment Cost Index (ECI) measures the change in labor costs over time. The Level of Benefit Survey (LOB) provided detailed information on employee benefits for survey years 1980 through 1998. The Employer Costs for Employee Compensation (ECEC) measures the level of average cost per employee hour worked. The Occupational Compensation Survey (OCS) program published national and local area wage data for survey years 1991 through 1996.
Data from the Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) survey and NCS programs are combined and provided to the President’s Pay Agent to meet the requirements of the Federal Employees Pay Comparability Act of 1990 (FEPCA). FEPCA established locality pay and the President’s Pay Agent designated locality pay areas based on Office of Management and Budget (OMB) statistical area definitions. The President’s Pay Agent advises the President on the issues of federal pay. It is made up of the Secretary of Labor and the directors of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), for more information see the Annual Report of the President’s Pay Agent. A combination of NCS and OES data is used by the President’s Pay Agent to recommend adjustments in pay levels (in a report to the Federal Salary Council) of some federal workers.
Until 2011, the NCS published data on employee compensation from a large sample of establishments providing data on about 800 detailed occupations in more than 150 local areas. With the enactment of the 2011 U.S. federal budget, the Locality Pay Survey (LPS) portion of the NCS was eliminated. Occupational estimates by locality are available through the OES program. This program produces employment and earnings estimates for over 800 occupations. These are available at the national, state, and local area level.
The OES and NCS programs have produced estimates by borrowing from each survey to provide more details on occupational wages. The Modeled Wage Estimates provide annual estimates of average hourly wages for occupations by selected job characteristics and within a geographical location. The job characteristics include bargaining status (union and nonunion), part- and full-time work status, incentive- and time-based pay, and work levels by occupation. For more information see the Modeled Wage Estimates homepage.
Hover over the red dot to see historical information.
Hover over the red dot to see historical information.
Hover over the red dot to see historical information.