U.S. Labor Costs Only Inch Up in 4th Quarter

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: The Wall Street Journal.

Politics and Policy

Tightening Labor Market Only Slowly Driving Up Wages

By Jeffrey Sparshott And Josh Mitchell
Jan. 30, 2015 8:34 a.m. ET

[e-mail]
@jeffsparshott

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WASHINGTON--U.S. labor costs rose at a measured pace in the final three months of the year, a sign that a tightening labor market is only slowly driving up wages for most American workers.

The employment-cost index, a broad gauge of wage and benefit expenditures, rose a seasonally adjusted 0.6% in the fourth quarter of last year, the Labor Department said Friday.

Wages and salaries, which account for about 70% of compensation costs, climbed 0.5%, a slowdown from the third quarter’s 0.8% pace. Benefit costs rose 0.6%, matching the prior quarter’s pace.

Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had expected the overall index would rise 0.6% for the October-through-December period. The index had increased 0.7% in both the second and third quarters. ... From a year earlier, employment costs rose 2.2% in the fourth quarter, matching the third quarter’s year-over-year rate.
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Write to Jeffrey Sparshott at [e-mail] and Josh Mitchell at [e-mail]

Read more: http://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-labor-costs-only-inch-up-in-4th-quarter-1422624850

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Good morning, Freepers and DUers alike. I especially welcome our good friends from across the aisle. You're paying for this information too, so you are a welcome participant in this thread. Please, everyone, put aside your differences long enough to digest the information. After that, you can engage in your usual donnybrook.

It is easy to find one paragraph, or one sentence, or one datum in this report that will support the most outlandish of conclusions, from "the sky is falling" to "we'll have blue skies, nothing but blue skies, from now on." Easy, but disingenuous.

Every month, you can find something in the report that will cause you concern. Take the information in context.

I usually go directly to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) for the lead on this, but The Wall Street Journal. article gets right to the point of what this is all about.

As usual, the BLS release includes tables galore. Knock yourselves out.

Please enjoy this thread.

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Compensation costs up 0.6% September-December 2014 and 2.2% over the year ending December

Economic News Release

Employment Cost Index news release text

USDL-15-0113

TRANSMISSION OF MATERIAL IN THIS RELEASE IS EMBARGOED UNTIL
8:30 A.M. (EST) FRIDAY, January 30, 2015


Technical information: [phone] [e-mail] www.bls.gov/ect
Media contact: [phone] [e-mail]


EMPLOYMENT COST INDEX - DECEMBER 2014


Compensation costs for civilian workers increased 0.6 percent, seasonally adjusted, for the 3-month period ending December 2014, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Wages and salaries (which make up about 70 percent of compensation costs) increased 0.5 percent, and benefits (which make up the remaining 30 percent of compensation) increased 0.6 percent.

Civilian Workers

Compensation costs for civilian workers increased 2.2 percent for the 12-month period ending December 2014. In December 2013, the increase in compensation costs was 2.0 percent. Wages and salaries increased 2.1 percent for the 12-month period ending December 2014, compared with a 1.9-percent increase in December 2013. Benefit costs increased 2.6 percent for the 12-month period ending December 2014, compared with a 2.2-percent increase for the 12-month period ending December 2013. (See tables A, 4, 8, and 12.)

Private Industry Workers

Compensation costs for private industry workers increased 2.3 percent over the year. In December 2013 the increase was 2.0 percent. Wages and salaries increased 2.2 percent for the current 12-month period ending December 2014, about the same as the December 2013 increase of 2.1 percent. The cost of benefits rose 2.5 percent for the 12-month period ending December 2014, which was higher than December 2013, when the increase was 1.9 percent. Employer costs for health benefits increased 2.4 percent over the year. The 12-month percent change for December 2013 was an increase of 3.0 percent. (See tables A, 5, 9, and 12.)

Among occupational groups, compensation cost increases for private industry workers for the 12-month period ending December 2014 ranged from 1.8 percent for service occupations to 2.6 percent for natural resources, construction, and maintenance occupations.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

1. Talk about two different interpreations of the same information:

US pay and benefits rose by most in 6 years last year

So The Wall Street Journal. emphasized that U.S. labor costs only inched up in the fourth quarter, but the Associated Press's take was that U.S. pay and benefits rose by the most in 6 years last year.

[Lucky Luciano]

2. The most in six years means since 2008...so...best since the

...crisis is still not good by overall historical standards. Still a step in the right direction.