Thursday, May 22, 2014

(LABOR) Latest WTI Points to Higher Pay Increases in 2014




Arlington, Va. (May 20, 2014) ­- The pace of wage growth in the private sector likely will accelerate later this year, according to the preliminary second-quarter Wage Trend Indicator™ (WTI) released today by Bloomberg BNA, a leading publisher of specialized news and information.

The index rose for the third straight quarter to 99.05 (second quarter 1976 = 100) from 98.92 in the first quarter.

“Although the labor market still isn't robust, it has been showing more strength lately than in the recent past,” economist Kathryn Kobe, a consultant who maintains and helped develop Bloomberg BNA’s WTI database, said. Kobe said she expects year-over-year pay increases in the private sector to reach 2.0 percent or slightly higher later this year, compared with the 1.7 percent gain reported for the first quarter by the Labor Department in its employment cost index.

Reflecting recent economic conditions, four of the WTI’s seven components made positive contributions to the preliminary second-quarter reading, while one factor was negative and two were neutral.


Source: BNA
 



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