A quasi-static test on the hysteretic behavior of rectangular section steel column-beam members under constant axial compression and cyclic bending load is here carried out, in which the failure behavior, hysteretic curves, skeleton curves, energy-dissipation performance and ductility capacity are analyzed comprehensively. Based on the true rule of test results, parametric studies by finite element software ANSYS were carried out to investigate the hysteretic capacity. Analytical results showed that axial compression weakened the load-carrying capacity, rigidity and ductility performance at post-buckling stage. There existed the optimal section height-width ratio which performed the best ductility capacity. The ductility capacity tended to get worse when height-width ratio exceeded the critical value. With the increase in slenderness ratio, the ultimate load-carrying capacity, deformation capacity and energy-dissipation capacity got worse.