Cost of Hiring New Workers a Bargain Despite Sluggish Employment Gains

Newswise — “The Bureau of Labor Statistics revised upwards March’s disappointing gains in employment to 154,000 new jobs. Initially, the number had been reported at 120,000. But, that really doesn’t do much to lift spirits over this month’s lower than expected number of 115,000 net new jobs. “Everything remains in a holding pattern of slow labor-market improvement, and that includes the cost of hiring these new workers. The quarterly employment cost index just released last week showed that what employees cost their employers is just 1.9 percent higher than it was 12 months ago. This means workers remain a relative bargain compared to the general rate of inflation and labor cost increases should not be a deterrent to hiring.”--Linda Barrington, labor economist and managing director of the Institute for Compensation Studies at Cornell University’s ILR School.