U.S. employment costs post smallest increase on record

Reuters reports:

U.S. labor costs in the second quarter recorded their smallest increase in 33 years amid tepid gains in the private sector, but it likely was a temporary setback against the backdrop of diminishing labor market slack.

The Employment Cost Index, the broadest measure of labor costs, edged up 0.2 percent, the Labor Department said on Friday. That was the smallest gain since the series started in the second quarter of 1982 and followed an unrevised 0.7 percent increase in the first quarter,

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the employment cost index rising 0.6 percent.

The deceleration in labor costs in the second quarter likely does not suggest a material slowing in wage growth, as commissions inflated worker compensation at the start of the year.

"Temporary setback". What the liberal media will do for Barack Obama.