# U.S. Employment Cost Index Rises 0.8% in Q3, Slowing From Q2 By Enna Lee Canonical URL: https://www.tokenpost.com/news/investing/44757 Published: 2026-10-30T14:08:16.000Z Updated: 2026-10-30T14:08:16.000Z Section: Investing > Compensation costs for civilian workers rose 3.4% year over year, not seasonally adjusted. The U.S. Employment Cost Index rose 0.8% in the third quarter, slowing from Q2 while matching expectations as the quarterly pace of compensation cost growth eased. The increase was 0.1 percentage point below the 0.9% gain in Q2. The third-quarter result matched the 0.8% consensus. The index measures employee compensation costs, including wages, salaries and benefits. Compensation costs for civilian workers increased 3.4% year over year in Q3, on a not seasonally adjusted basis. That figure compares costs with a year earlier, while the 0.8% index reading compares Q3 with Q2. The index had been scheduled for 8:30 a.m. ET (12:30 UTC) Friday, Oct. 30, in TokenPost’s [preview of Friday’s U.S. data releases](). ## Links in this article - [preview of Friday’s U.S. data releases](https://www.tokenpost.com/news/investing/44230)