Key US Labor Cost Gauge Triples In Ominous Revision

Unit labor costs in the US rose at nearly triple the initially reported rate during 2022's final quarter, revised data released Thursday suggested. Taken at face value, it wasn't the best news for policymakers hoping to avert second-round inflation effects. Early last month, BLS figures showed a 1.1% increase in unit labor costs for Q4, below consensus. It looked like more incremental evidence to suggest that despite an acute (and possibly endemic) labor shortage, the risk of a wage-spiral wa