Washington, DC, October 28, 2005--Employment costs rose 0.8% in the third quarter, in line with economists' expectations and virtually unchanged from the 0.7% gain seen during the second quarter.
Benefit costs again outpaced wages and salaries, the Labor Department said Friday. Benefit costs between June and September rose 1.3%, while wages and salaries climbed 0.6%.
Economists forecast a 0.8% increase in the employment cost index, considered one of the best measures of labor-cost pressures.
Compensation costs for civilian workers have consistently fallen on a year-over-year basis since 2000. For the year ended September 2005, costs increased 3.1%, compared to a rise of 3.8% in the comparable period ended in September 2004. Through September 2000, compensation costs rose 4.3% on an annualized basis.
Wage and salary increases, however, have also fallen, coming in at a 2.3% rise in the year ended September 2005. As of September 2000, wages and salaries increased at an annualized pace of 4%.
At the end of the third quarter, benefit costs increased by 5.1%, down sharply from the 6.8% increase recorded a year earlier, Labor Department data showed.
Employment costs for state and local government workers climbed 1.1% in the third quarter. Wage and salary costs rose 0.7%, with benefit costs moving up 1.7%.
