Linda Barrington, Managing Director of the Institute for Compensation Studies at Cornell University’s ILR School, comments on today’s release of the latest Employment Situation numbers and Thursday’s Employee Cost Index from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Barrington says:
“It is certainly positive news that unemployment is holding under 8 percent and the jobs numbers were revised notably upward for the last two months. “The revision to nonfarm payroll employment increased the measured additions to employment more than 50 percent for November – ¬from 161,000 new jobs to 247,000 new jobs – and more than 25 percent for December – from 155,000 new jobs to 196,000 new jobs. “But it’s not enough to demonstrate that we’ve reached the point where employment growth will translate into notable increases in people’s paychecks. The Employment Cost Index revealed that total employee compensation is only up 1.9 percent from where it was a year ago.
“Overall, the two labor market reports released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics this week ¬¬– the Employment Cost Index on Jan. 31 and today’s Employment Situation report – both suggest little dynamic strengthening of the U.S. labor market.”
RSS