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Benefits October 31, 2002
Employment Cost Up 0.8%
October 31, 2002 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - The Employment
Cost Index (ECI) increased by 0.8% during the third quarter,
figures from the Department of Labor show.
Reported by Eric Hazard
The third quarter seasonally adjusted increase is lower compared to the second quarter’s increase of 1.0%. For the year ended September 2002 the ECI is up 3.7%.
Components of the ECI also rose. Wages and salaries increased 0.5%, a slowdown compared with the 1.0% increase seen in the second quarter. Benefits costs, such as health insurance, outpaced the gains in wages and salaries, increasing by 1.4% compared with the 1.3% increase seen in the second quarter.
The ECI is a component of the National Compensation Survey and measures changes in compensation costs, which include wages, salaries, and employer costs for employee benefits.