Employee compensation in N.E. rises at slower pace in summer

EMPLOYEE COMPENSATION COSTS rose at a slower pace over the summer in New England than they did in the spring, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
EMPLOYEE COMPENSATION COSTS rose at a slower pace over the summer in New England than they did in the spring, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

PROVIDENCE – The rate of increase for the New England employment cost index declined in the three-month period ended September 2013, according to a U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics report issued Tuesday.

Compensation costs in the region – which include wages, salaries and employer costs for employee benefits – increased 0.4 percent, not seasonally adjusted, for the three-month period. The cost index for wages and salaries, which make up about 70 percent of compensation costs, increased 0.6 percent, not seasonally adjusted, during the same period.

In the previous three months, compensation costs increased 0.9 percent, while wages and salaries increased 1 percent, indicating that the rise in employment costs slowed in the three months between June and September.

New England private-industry workers experienced a 2.1 percent increase in total compensation and a 2.3 percent increase in wages and salaries over the year ended Sept. 30, according to the index. Compensation costs and wage and salary costs both increased 2.2 percent over the year ended June 30.

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Nationally, compensation costs for private-industry workers increased 1.9 percent over the 12-month period ended in September. Wage and salary costs increased 1.8 percent over the year.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics employment cost index measures the change in the cost of labor, free from the influence of employment shifts among occupations and industries.

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