US employment costs rise 0.8 percent in third quarter

Compensation costs for US civilian workers rose 0.8 percent in the third quarter, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said, with wages and salaries up 0.7 percent and benefit costs up 0.9 percent, leaving the annual increase unchanged at 3.4 percent.

Why it matters: Labour cost growth eased only slightly on the quarter, with the annual rate stuck at 3.4 percent, a print that gives the Federal Reserve no relief on costs a day after September PCE inflation rose to 3.6 percent on the year.

Data as of Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Cost Index for September 2026, USDL-26-1620, released October 30, 2026 at 8:30 a.m. ET and read in full from the bureau's own release in this run; every figure is the bureau's own. Developing item.

Compensation costs for civilian workers increased 0.8 percent in the three months ending in September 2026, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported, down from 0.9 percent in the second quarter. Wages and salaries rose 0.7 percent, easing from 0.9 percent, and benefit costs rose 0.9 percent, easing from 1.0 percent. Private industry compensation also rose 0.8 percent on the quarter.

Over the 12 months ending in September, compensation costs rose 3.4 percent, the same annual rate as in June, with wages and salaries up 3.1 percent and benefit costs up 3.9 percent. Real wages and salaries for private industry workers fell 0.6 percent over the year.

US employment costs rise 0.8 percent in third quarter

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