Employment Cost Index Shows 0.3% Rise in 1Q

The recession continues to moderate labor costs, as shown in the mere 0.3% rise in the employment cost index for the first quarter of this year, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported yesterday.

This is the smallest gain on record since the series began in June 1982.

Private economists in a Market News International survey had looked for a 0.5% increase, with forecasts ranging from a 0.4% increase to a 0.8% jump.

The gain in the ECI compared with a 0.6% rise in the fourth quarter of 2008 — revised from a 0.5% increase — when both wage and benefit costs were higher. On the year ending in March, ECI rose 2.1% versus a 3.3% rise in the year ended in March 2008 and a 3.5% rise in March 2007.

— Market News International

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