Wages and salaries for civilian workers increased by 1.3% in the third quarter and 5.1% over the year ending in September, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ quarterly Employment Cost Index released Friday. This reflects a slight slowdown from the second quarter, when wages and salaries increased 1.4% quarter over quarter and 5.3% for the year ending in June. Economists expected the index to increase by 1.2% in the third quarter, according to consensus estimates on Refinitiv.
“While a move in the right direction, the data show that still-strong demand for labor continues to keep compensation elevated,” said Rubeela Farooqi, chief US economist at High Frequency Economics. “These readings will only help support the Fed’s current hawkish policy stance.” The Fed keeps a close eye on the Employment Cost Index to monitor the extent to which skyrocketing inflation is boosting wages — a factor in its decision of how much to hike interest rates.
Could it because…inflation is due to corporate greed? Why can’t this just be called out for what it is? It’s artificial inflation brought on by corporations. This isn’t the inflation see in the early 80s and we still haven’t reached that recession talked about for 2+ years now.