Global| Jul 29 2011U.S. Employment Cost Index Gain Accelerates With Greater Benefits
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
The employment cost index for private industry workers rose 0.8% in Q2 for total compensation versus an unrevised 0.5% Q1 rise. The Q2 increase beat expectations for a 0.5% rise as tallied by Bloomberg. The four-quarter gain of 2.3% [...]
The employment cost index for private industry workers rose 0.8% in Q2 for total compensation versus an unrevised 0.5% Q1 rise. The Q2 increase beat expectations for a 0.5% rise as tallied by Bloomberg. The four-quarter gain of 2.3% was its highest since Q4'08.
Benefit costs increased 1.6% and the four-quarter gain rose to 4.0%. Yearly improvement amongst industry groups was widespread including a 6.1% y/y gain for factory workers and 3.6% for those in service occupations. Management, professional and related workers saw a 3.9% gain, the strongest since 2005. State & local government workers realized a slightly reduced 2.9% y/y increase.
Private sector wages & salaries grew a slightly greater 0.5% (1.7% y/y) after four straight quarters of 0.4% increase. Amongst occupational groups, wages in information grew 1.8% y/y. Management and professional workers posted a steady 1.7% y/y increase and those of sales & office workers saw a constant 1.8% gain. In the factory sector wages rose an improved 1.9% but in education & heath they decelerated to 1.4%. In the government sector, state & local workers saw wage growth fall to a record low 1.1% y/y, down from the 2007 high of 3.8%.
The employment cost index figures are available in Haver's USECON database.
Measuring Inflation: The Core Is Rotten from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis can be found here.
| ECI - Private Industry Workers (%) | Q2'11 | Q1'11 | Q4'10 | Q2 Y/Y | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Compensation | 0.8 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 2.3 | 1.9 | 1.4 | 2.9 |
| Wages & Salaries | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 1.7 | 1.6 | 1.6 | 3.0 |
| Benefit Costs | 1.6 | 1.2 | 0.5 | 4.0 | 2.6 | 1.2 | 2.5 |
Tom Moeller
AuthorMore in Author Profile »Prior to joining Haver Analytics in 2000, Mr. Moeller worked as the Economist at Chancellor Capital Management from 1985 to 1999. There, he developed comprehensive economic forecasts and interpreted economic data for equity and fixed income portfolio managers. Also at Chancellor, Mr. Moeller worked as an equity analyst and was responsible for researching and rating companies in the economically sensitive automobile and housing industries for investment in Chancellor’s equity portfolio. Prior to joining Chancellor, Mr. Moeller was an Economist at Citibank from 1979 to 1984. He also analyzed pricing behavior in the metals industry for the Council on Wage and Price Stability in Washington, D.C. In 1999, Mr. Moeller received the award for most accurate forecast from the Forecasters' Club of New York. From 1990 to 1992 he was President of the New York Association for Business Economists. Mr. Moeller earned an M.B.A. in Finance from Fordham University, where he graduated in 1987. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from George Washington University.
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