According to Jin10, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said Friday that the Employment Cost Index (ECI), the broadest measure of labor costs, rose 0.8% in the third quarter, below its 0.9% increase from April through June and in line with economists’ expectations. Labor costs rose 3.4% in the 12 months through September, unchanged from the 12-month increase through June. Policymakers regard the ECI as one of the better measures of labor-market slack and a predictor of core inflation because it adjusts for changes in worker composition and job quality.