U.S. labor costs up solidly in fourth quarter

U.S. labor costs rose solidly in the fourth quarter, which could keep the Federal Reserve on track to raise interest rates this year. The Employment Cost Index, the broadest measure of labor costs, increased 0.6 percent after an unrevised 0.7 percent gain in the third quarter, the Labor Department said on Friday. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the employment cost index rising 0.6 percent in the October-December period. The ECI is widely viewed by policymakers and economists as one of the better measures of labor market slack.

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