U.S. employers likely faced rising wages and benefits costs in the first quarter, economists say, as a tight labor market spurred organizations to compete for workers.
Business and government employers spent 4% more on worker costs in the fourth quarter compared with the same period a year earlier, without adjusting for seasonality, an increase not seen since 2001. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal estimate the first quarter saw similar upward pressure on labor costs, with a seasonally adjusted increase of 1.1% in the first quarter compared with the prior one.
