US wage growth slows among both public and private sector workers in Q3

Employee compensation growth in the US slowed in the third quarter as wage growth declined in both the private and public sectors.

According to the Department of Labor, the employment cost index advanced at a quarter-on-quarter pace of 0.5% (consensus: 0.6%), the same as in the three months to June.

That dragged the year-on-year rate of improvement in the ECI from 2.7% to 2.4%.

In comparison to a year ago, growth in wages and salaries for private and public sector workers combined slowed from 2.9% for the quarter ended in June to 2.5% for that ending in September.

Growth in benefits on the other hand edged up by a tenth of a percentage point to 2.3%.

The rate of increase in wages among state and local governments in particular slowed, from 2.6% in the second quarter to 1.8%, while for private sector workers it eased from 2.9% to 2.5%.