Paychecks grew more slowly this spring, a sign inflation may keep cooling

Pay and benefits for America’s workers grew more slowly in the April-June quarter than in the first three months of the year, a trend that could keep price pressures in check and encourage the inflation-fighters at the Federal Reserve. Compensation as measured by the government’s Employment Cost Index rose 0.9% in the second quarter, down from a 1.2% increase in the previous quarter, the Labor Department said Wednesday. Compared with the same quarter a year earlier, compensation growth was 4.1%, a slight drop from 4.2% in the first quarter.