U.S. employment costs post smallest increase on record

The Employment Cost Index, the broadest measure of labor costs, edged up 0.2 percent, the Labor Department said on Friday. That was the smallest gain since the series started in the second quarter of 1982 and followed an unrevised 0.7 percent increase in the first quarter,

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the employment cost index rising 0.6 percent.

The deceleration in labor costs in the second quarter likely does not suggest a material slowing in wage growth, as commissions inflated worker compensation at the start of the year. Labor market slack has diminished significantly over the last few years, which is expected to start putting upward

pressure on wages.

At 5.3 percent, the unemployment rate is close to the 5.0 percent to 5.2 percent range that most Federal Reserve officials onsider consistent with full employment.

The ECI is widely viewed by policymakers and economists as

one of the better measures of labor market slack. It is also

considered a better predictor of core inflation.

Wages and salaries, which account for 70 percent of

employment costs, rose 0.2 percent in the second quarter. They

had increased 0.7 percent in the first quarter.

Private sector wages and salaries also rose 0.2 percent

after gaining 0.7 percent in the prior quarter.

In the 12 months through June, labor costs rose 2.0 percent,

the smallest 12-month increase since last year, and slipping further below the 3 percent threshold that economists say is needed to bring inflation closer to the Fed's 2 percent medium-term target.

(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Paul Simao)