Worker Pay and Benefits Rose 1.3% in Second Quarter

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: The Wall Street Journal.

ECONOMY * U.S. ECONOMY

Worker Pay and Benefits Rose 1.3% in Second Quarter

Data is being closely watched for the signal compensation changes send about the path of broader inflation

By Sarah Chaney Cambon
https://twitter.com/sechaney
[e-mail]
Updated July 29, 2022 8:48 am ET

Worker pay and benefits rose swiftly in the second quarter, a near-record pace that keeps pressure on historically high inflation.

The employment-cost index, a measure of wages and benefits for civilian workers, increased a seasonally adjusted 1.3% in the quarter, the Labor Department said Friday. That nearly matched the first quarter of the year, when compensation grew 1.4%, the fastest on records tracing back to 2001. The data show wage pressures persisted in a tight labor market this spring.

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Read more: https://www.wsj.com/articles/us-employers-labor-costs-inflation-q2-2022-11659061404

[mahatmakanejeeves]

1. From the source:

Compensation costs up 1.3% Mar 2022 to Jun 2022 and up 5.1% over the year ending Jun 2022

Economic News Release USDL-22-1553

Employment Cost Index Summary
Transmission of material in this release is embargoed until 8:30 a.m. (ET) Friday, July 29, 2022

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

EMPLOYMENT COST INDEX – JUNE 2022

Compensation costs for civilian workers increased 1.3 percent, seasonally adjusted, for the 3-month period ending in June 2022, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Wages and salaries increased 1.4 percent and benefit costs increased 1.2 percent from March 2022. (See tables A, 1, 2, and 3.)

Compensation costs for civilian workers increased 5.1 percent for the 12-month period ending in June 2022 and increased 2.9 percent in June 2021. Wages and salaries increased 5.3 percent for the 12-month period ending in June 2022 and increased 3.2 percent for the 12-month period ending in June 2021. Benefit costs increased 4.8 percent over the year and increased 2.2 percent for the 12-month period ending in June 2021. (See tables A, 4, 8, and 12.)

Compensation costs for private industry workers increased 5.5 percent over the year. In June 2021, the increase was 3.1 percent. Wages and salaries increased 5.7 percent for the 12-month period ending in June 2022 and increased 3.5 percent in June 2021. The cost of benefits increased 5.3 percent for the 12-month period ending in June 2022 and increased 2.0 percent in June 2021. Inflation-adjusted (constant dollar) private wages and salaries declined 3.1 percent for the 12 months ending June 2022. Inflation-adjusted benefit costs in the private sector declined 3.5 percent over that same period. (See tables A, 5, 9, and 12.)

Among private industry occupational groups, compensation cost increases for the 12-month period ending in June 2022 ranged from 4.3 percent for natural resources, construction, and maintenance occupations to 8.0 percent for service occupations. Within industry supersectors, compensation cost increases ranged from 4.0 percent for construction to 7.8 percent for leisure and hospitality. (See table 5.)

Compensation costs for state and local government workers increased 3.4 percent for the 12-month period ending in June 2022, compared with an increase of 2.0 percent in June 2021. Wages and salaries increased 3.2 percent for the 12-month period ending in June 2022 and 1.6 percent a year ago. Benefit costs increased 3.6 percent for the 12-month period ending in June 2022. The prior year increase was 2.6 percent. (See tables A, 7, 11, and 12.)

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[Voltaire2]

2. Inflation rose by 7%.

Wages are not driving inflation.

[progree]

3. From Table A: Real Wages: -3.5%, Real Benefits: -3.9%, Real Compensation: -3.6%

over the past 12 months. For civilian workers. Where "real" means inflation-adjusted, aka constant dollar

From the first 3 lines of Table A.
https://www.bls.gov/news.release/eci.nr0.htm