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Economy in Brief
U.S. Consumer Credit Growth Surges in June
Consumer credit outstanding jumped $40.1 billion (7.7% y/y) in June...
Japan's LEI Waffles and Slows
Japan's leading economic index in June slipped to 100.6...
U.S. Foreign Trade Deficit Narrows in June
The U.S. trade deficit in goods and services (BOP basis) fell to $79.61 billion in June...
U.S. Unemployment Claims Remain on an Uptrend
Initial claims for unemployment insurance filed in the week ended July 30 rose 6,000 to 260,000...
RICS Survey Shows Weakening U.K. Housing Market
With the Bank of England hiking its key rate by 50 basis points and planning to squeeze its balance sheet...
Viewpoints
Commentaries are the opinions of the author and do not reflect the views of Haver Analytics.
Excess Demand for Goods Caused Supply Constraints
Q2 GDP Does Not Confirm Economic Recession, But It Does Confirm A Corporate Profit Recession
State Coincident Indexes in June 2022
State Labor Markets in June 2022
No Recession Call Can Be Made Before BEA Explains The Record Gap Between Income & Output
by Carol Stone October 31, 2007
The employment cost index slowed to an 0.8% advance for private industry workers in Q3, compared to 0.9% in Q2 and a Consensus forecast of 0.9%.
Wage and salary growth held at the 0.8% quarterly pace seen in Q2, with the year/year growth also at Q2's amount, 3.4%. Wages account for roughly 70% of the compensation index. The largest recent increase was 1.1% in Q1, driven by outsized increases in several industries.
Benefit costs dropped back from Q2's 1.1% to 0.8%; this put the year/year increase at 2.4%. For the first three quarters this year, the year/year growth rates are the lowest since 1998. This is at least in part due to a more moderate rise in the cost of health benefits, which was up 4.8% y/y again in Q3, the same as in Q2 and less than half the pace of 2002 and 2003.
Compensation costs also eased for state and local government workers. This group saw a rise of 0.8% in Q3, less than 1.1% in Q2 and 1.3% in Q1 and the lowest since Q1 2006. The move was in benefits, which rose "only" 0.7% in Q3, following 1.7% in Q2 and 2.1% in Q1. Wages and salaries actually picked up in Q3 to 1.0% from 0.8% in Q2.
ECI- Private Industry Workers | 3Q | 2Q | 1Q | Y/Y | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Compensation | 0.8% | 0.9% | 0.6% | 3.1% | 2.9% | 3.1% | 3.8% |
Wages & Salaries | 0.8% | 0.8% | 1.1% | 3.4% | 2.9% | 2.5% | 4.7% |
Benefit Costs | 1.1% | 1.1% | -0.3% | 2.7% | 2.9% | 4.6% | 6.8% |
ECI- State & Local Government Workers | 0.8% | 1.1% | 1.3% | 4.3% | 3.9% | 3.8% | 3.4% |