EmailEmployment costs increased 0.5% in the second quarter, up from 0.4% growth in Q1 2012 and exactly what the Briefing.com consensus expected. Benefits spending accelerated from 0.5% growth in the first quarter to 0.6% in the second. Wages and salaries spending slowed, increasing 0.4% in the second quarter after increasing 0.5% in the first.
Private compensation increased 0.5% in Q2 2012, up from 0.4% in the first quarter. A boost in benefits spending (from 0.3% to 0.6%) more than offset a slowdown in wages and salaries (from 0.5% to 0.4%). Compensation at state and local government positions slowed. Spending increased 0.5% in the second quarter, down from 0.7% growth in the first. Both wages and salaries (from 0.4% to 0.3%) and benefits (from 1.1% to 0.9%) were responsible for the weak second quarter compensation gain.
