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Economy in Brief
U.S. Housing Affordability Declines Further in June
The NAR Fixed Rate Mortgage Housing Affordability Index fell 3.6% in June...
EMU Output Makes Solid Gain in June
The European Monetary Union posted a 0.7% increase for industrial output in June...
U.S. Producer Prices Fall During July; Core Increase Weakens
The Producer Price Index for Final Demand fell 0.5% during July...
U.S. Unemployment Claims Continue on an Uptrend
Initial claims for unemployment insurance filed in the week ended August 6 rose 14,000 to 262,000...
RICS Survey Points to More U.K. Housing Sector Weakness
The survey of housing market conditions in the U.K. continues to show strength in prices versus weakness...
Viewpoints
Commentaries are the opinions of the author and do not reflect the views of Haver Analytics.
by Tom Moeller July 29, 2005
The employment cost index for private industry workers rose the same 0.6% last quarter as during 1Q05 and contrasted to Consensus expectations for a 0.8% increase.
The 0.8% increase in benefit costs was the slowest since early 2002 and reflected slower growth in the service sector while benefit costs grew more rapidly in manufacturing. The y/y gain in the cost of health benefits fell to 6.3%, the slowest since 1999.
Wage and salary growth was stable at 0.6%. Wages account for roughly 70% of the compensation index.
Labor Market Developments in the United States and Canada since 2000 from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York is available here.
ECI- Private Industry Workers | 2Q '05 | 1Q '05 | Y/Y | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Compensation | 0.6% | 0.6% | 3.2% | 3.8% | 4.0% | 3.2% |
Wages & Salaries | 0.6% | 0.6% | 2.4% | 2.4% | 3.0% | 2.7% |
Benefit Costs | 0.8% | 1.1% | 4.9% | 6.9% | 6.4% | 4.7% |