Wages and benefits paid to American workers rose in the July-September period at the fastest pace in more than two years. The Labor Department reported that its Employment Cost Index was up 1 percent in the third quarter, compared to a 0.9 percent rise in the April-June period. It was the biggest quarterly increase since a similar 1 percent rise in the second quarter of 2004. The increase, which was above the 0.9 percent rise that economists had been expecting, was led by a big jump in the cost of employee benefits such as health insurance and pensions.
See "Wages, Benefits Up at 2-Year Best Pace", Martin Crutsinger, San Francisco Chronicle, October 30, 2006