Last year, expenses per worker reached their highest levels since 2007 when they increase by 2.4%. Despite these increasing costs, employee output has only managed to grow by an average of 0.5% per year over the past five years. Overall productivity for many has continued to fall as companies put off huge capital investments into technology in the hopes that new employees could meet demand. Several economists predict that hiring will fall as a result and this could lead to a recession in 2016.
See "Recession Fears Stoked as Higher Labor Costs Crimp Profits", Rich Miller and Shobhana Chandra, Chicago Tribune, February 5, 2016