Another important U.S. inflation-related indicator is coming today. The Q3 Employment Cost Index (ECI) will be released at 8:30 AM ET, giving investors a fresh look at how quickly wages and employee benefit costs are rising.
Here's where things stand:
• Previous quarter: +0.9%
• Q3 forecast: +0.8%
• Previous annual growth: +3.4%
Unlike average hourly earnings, the ECI tracks changes in wages and benefits while accounting for differences in job types, making it a useful measure of underlying labor-cost pressures.