employment cost index


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Employment Cost Index

An index compiled by the Bureau for Labor Statistics estimating the cost of hiring and paying the American workforce. Analysts closely monitor the employment cost index: an unexpectedly large increase may result in downward pressure in the market. This is because a rise in the cost of paying employees reduces profits, which in turn reduces stock prices. It may also reduce bond prices because rises in the ECI are seen as a harbinger of inflation.
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employment cost index

A closely watched economic report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics that indicates the total cost of employing a civilian worker. A larger-than-expected increase in the index is likely to place downward pressure on both bond and equity prices.
Wall Street Words: An A to Z Guide to Investment Terms for Today's Investor by David L. Scott. Copyright © 2003 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. All rights reserved.
References in periodicals archive ?
(1) For a more detailed discussion of the Employment Cost Index and its uses, see John W.
Introducing 2012 fixed employment weights for the Employment Cost Index
WASHINGTON -- Labor Department releases the second-quarter employment cost index, 8:30 a.m.; Labor Department releases weekly jobless claims, 8:30 a.m.; Freddie Mac, the mortgage company, releases weekly mortgage rates, 10 a.m.
National calendar week of July 28
Compensation costs, as measured by the Employment Cost Index (ECI), had been rising at a slower pace since early 2005, but since the first quarter of 2006, this slowdown reversed itself; during the entire course of 2006, the pace of ECI growth sped up.
Labor costs
gross domestic product data and the employment cost index, both for the first quarter of this year, brokers said.
Nikkei opens higher, TOPIX down
The surprising strength in the employment cost index for wages and salaries in the first quarter raises the possibility that workers, willingness to surrender wage gains for job security may be lessening.
Statement by Alan Greenspan, Chairman, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, before the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, U.S. Senate, July 18, 1996
WASHINGTON -- Commerce Department releases first-quarter gross domestic product, 8:30 a.m.; Labor Department releases the first-quarter employment cost index, 8:30 a.m.; Federal Reserve policymakers meet to set interest rates.
Business events scheduled for the coming week
Another labor cost measure, the Employment Cost Index (ECI), computes total compensation based on a fixed mixture of industries and occupations in order to distinguish labor cost growth from growth caused by shifts in industrial and occupational structure over time.
The cost of labor as an inflation indicator
employment cost index for the January-March period, ahead of the meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee on May 16.
Tokyo stocks end morning up, info, high-techs higher
The increase in total hourly compensation over the first three months of the year, as measured by the employment cost index (ECI), was in line with its recent moderate trend.
Monetary policy report to the Congress
WASHINGTON -- Labor Department releases the third-quarter employment cost index, 8:30 a.m.
Business events scheduled for the coming week
The Employment Cost Index (ECI), which measures the changes in employers' wage, salary, and benefit costs, closed out 2006 showing moderate growth.
Employment cost index
economic data will also be released later this week, including the employment cost index on Thursday and a preliminary report on gross domestic product Friday, both for the fourth quarter of 1999.
Dollar little changed against yen in Tokyo morning
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