Employment Cost Index Posts 0.3% Gain in 3Q

The Employment Cost Index rose 0.3% in the third quarter of 2011 on a seasonally adjusted basis, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday.

Second quarter ECI was unrevised at a 0.7% increase.

Wages and salaries, which account for about 70% of compensation, rose 0.3%, while benefits, about 30% of the cost, rose 0.1%. Second-quarter wages rose 0.4% and benefits were up 1.1%.

Economists polled by Thomson Reuters predicted a 0.6% increase in employment costs.

Only private sector workers saw wages and salaries increase in the second quarter, rising a 10th of a percent.

Private sector employment costs rose 0.4% overall.

On an annual basis, employment costs rose 2.0% in the 12 months ended in September, compared to a 2.2% gain in the 12 months ended in August. Wages and salaries rose 1.6% in the year and benefits increased 3.2%.

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