The good news for employers is that the U.S. Labor Department’s Employment Cost Index (ECI) for the first quarter of 2010 increased by only 0.6%. Plus, the annual rate (through March 2010) was only 1.7%.
Employees also experienced a positive trend: wages and salaries increased by 0.4% and benefits by 1.1%.
At the macro level, these small increases translate into a continuation of the Federal Reserve Board’s low interest rate throughout 2010, which is good for the economic recovery from the recession. It also means that the economy/labor market could accommodate another five to seven million more new workers before the ECI would be affected significantly.