The cost of employment in America has been rising steadily for months now and it doesn’t seem to be slowing down any time soon.
Back in quarter one, employment costs had risen 1.4%, giving workers optimism about their financial situation. However, given the news over a potential impending recession, hopes weren’t necessarily high that the rate would continue.
These worries were squashed we the Labor Department announced on Friday that the quarter two numbers showed yet another bump in employment cost: 1.3% this time around. This is slightly higher than was projected by the Wall Street Journal, which had projected the number to be 1.1%.
1.3% still isn’t necessarily a crazy bump, but it’s a very encouraging number when taken into context of where the U.S. economy has been lately.
An even more encouraging thought is the 1.6% wage bump that took place in the second quarter, which is higher than the 1.3% bump that took place in the first quarter. When you take in to comparison the year-over-year statistics, wages have actually gone up an impressive 5.7% rate.
This might not seem like a crazy amount in a vacuum. But if you ask many finance experts, they would say that we’re heading towards a recession, so virtually any wage bump is truly a reason to celebrate if you’re an employee.