What’s in your wallet? A newly released report indicates that U.S. workers are seeing the largest increase in wages and benefits since 2008.
The U.S. Department of Labor released their quarterly employment cost index report on Tuesday, and the results are such that we haven’t seen since September 2008. Yes, that was before former president Barack Obama was in office. I know what you were thinking.
According to Fox Business:
The employment cost index, a gauge of total compensation for civilian workers, increased 0.6% in the second quarter. The cost of pay and benefits jumped 2.8% in the 12-month period ended in June, the highest yearly growth rate in nearly a decade.
Wages alone gained 2.8% over the past 12 months, which also reflected a near 10-year high.
Growth in benefits outpaced wages in the second quarter. Wages were up 0.5%. Benefits, which cover health care, retirement plans and other items, jumped 0.9%. That marks the fastest pace in four years.
According to the report, the Employment Cost Index (ECI) “measures the change in the cost of labor, free from the influence of employment shifts among occupations and industries.”
Whoever you want to give credit to for the increased pay and benefits, you can’t dispute the numbers. Numbers never lie. Okay, facts never lie, but factual numbers don’t either.