Compensation costs rise in Midwest, lag behind other regions

Total compensation for private industry workers rose faster than retail prices in 2008, although increases in the Midwest region lagged behind the rest of the country, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics.

Nationally, total compensation costs rose 2.4 percent last year, compared to 3 percent growth in 2007, according to the BLS. The highest compensation increases were in aircraft manufacturing, which exhibited 4.7 percent annual growth, and professional, scientific, and technical services, which saw a 4.4 percent increase compared to 2007.

The West region saw the highest increase in total compensation costs for private industry workers at 2.7 percent. Compensation growth rates in the Northeast and the South followed with increases of 2.5 percent and 2.4 percent, respectively. The Midwest region posted the smallest gain at 2.2 percent, according to the BLS.

Wage and salary advances in 2008 also were the lowest in the Midwest at 2.3 percent, compared to the highest at 2.9 percent in the West. The Northeast and South regions each posted wage and salary increases of 2.8 percent.

Compared to a year ago, annual wage and salary gains slowed in all four regions. Wages and salaries rose 2.6 percent in 2008, down from 3.3 percent in 2007.