I will have more confidence in the recent data for this measure of labor compensation if the deceleration remains intact after the next revision. In addition, this measure tends to use trends instead of real-time data for benefit costs although the Bureau of Economic Analysis does adjust the trends judgmentally in response to the real-time ECI data on benefit costs.
Lately, the benefit component of the ECI has rebounded sharply. Even if the evidence for an acceleration in nominal labor compensation were more definitive, the implications for inflation are not altogether straightforward.