US, Employment cost for Q3 0.8% versus 0.9% estimate

• Prior quarter 0.9%
• employment cost index Q3 0.8% versus 0.9% estimae
• employment wages QoQ 0.8% versus 0.9% last quarter
• employment benefits 0.8% versus 1.0% last quarter

HIGHLIGHTS and DETAILS from the BLS

• Civilian workers’ compensation costs rose by 0.8% (seasonally adjusted) from June to September 2024.
• Over the 12-month period ending in September 2024, civilian workers’ compensation costs increased 3.9%, down from 4.3% in September 2023. (SLOWING)
• Wages and salaries for civilian workers rose 3.9% over the past year, compared to a 4.6% increase in the previous year. (SLOWING)
• Benefit costs for civilian workers rose 3.7% over the year, compared to 4.1% in September 2023. (SLOWING)
• Private industry workers’ compensation costs increased 3.6% over the year, down from 4.3% in September 2023. (SLOWING)
• Wages and salaries in private industry rose 3.8%, compared to 4.5% the prior year. (SLOWING)
• Benefit costs in private industry rose 3.3% over the year, compared to 3.9% the previous year. (SLOWING)
• Inflation-adjusted wages and salaries for private industry increased 1.2% over the past 12 months.

Comparing Union to non-union workers.

• Union workers saw a 5.8% rise in compensation costs, while non-union workers saw a 3.4% increase over the year. (Strike impact?)
• Wages for union workers increased 6.4%, compared to 3.6% for non-union workers.
• Benefit costs rose 4.9% for union workers and 3.1% for non-union workers.

Government workers.

• State and local government workers’ compensation costs increased 4.7% over the past year, slightly down from 4.8% in the previous year.
• Wages and salaries for government workers rose 4.6%, and benefit costs increased 4.8% over the year.

Looking at the trends from the table above, the costs are moving lower QoQ and from a year ago as well.

This article was written by Greg Michalowski at www.forexlive.com.