Employment Cost Index (ECI)

Definition: The ECI is designed to measure the change in the cost of labor,
including wages and salaries as well as benefits.

Importance: It's useful in evaluating wage trends and the risk of wage inflation. If
wage inflation threatens, it's likely that interest rates will rise, then bond and stock
prices will fall.

Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Availability: Last business day of January, April, July and October at 8:30am ET.
Data for quarter prior.

Frequency: Quarterly.
Revisions: New seasonal adjustment factors are introduced every year. This
revision affects at least five years worth of data. The significance of this revision
can be substantial.

Raw Data: http://stats.bls.gov/news.release/eci.toc.htm

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