Labor costs rise to two decade high

U.S. employers spent four percent more on wages and benefits in the fourth quarter of 2021, the single biggest annual increase since 2011, according to the Labor Department. The Federal Reserve's core personal-consumption expenditures price index rose 4.9 percent in December. “Inflation has fundamentally picked up and I think it’s fair to say that price gains are feeding back into wage gains as well,” said Ben Herzon, executive director at IHS Markit. “There’s a lot of pressure on the supply side on both commodities and labor.”