US Q1 unit labour costs jump past forecasts

An important measure of price pressures emanating from the jobs market jumped past forecasts in the US at the start of 2023.

According to the US Department of Labor, in seasonally adjusted terms, unit labour costs rose at a quarter-on-quarter pace of 6.3% in the first quarter.

Economists had forecast an increase of 5.6%.

The jump in labour costs came as hourly compensation rose by 3.4%, even as labour productivity shrank at a clip of 2.7%.

Output in the meantime rose by just 0.2% while hours worked did sis by 3.0%.

In annual terms, productivity was off by 0.9%, hourly compensation 4.8% higher and unit labour costs by 5.8%.

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