MW:Employment cost index up 0.5% in second quarter
By Greg Robb
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- The employment cost index rose 0.5% for all civilian workers in the second quarter, slightly more than the 0.4% increase in the first quarter, the Labor Department reported Tuesday. In the past year, employment costs were up 1.7%, the slowest increase since the second quarter of 2010. The increase in the employment cost index was in line with expectations of Wall Street economists, according to a survey conducted by MarketWatch. The employment cost index is composed of two elements: wages and benefits. In the second quarter, wages - which account for 70% of employment costs - increased 0.4%, while benefits increased 0.6%. Year-on-year, wages were up 1.7%, compared with a 1.6% gain in the same period last year. Benefits slowed to a 2.1% year-on-year increase from a 3.6% gain in the same period last year. This is the slowest annual increase in benefits since the fourth quarter of 2009.
