Compensation costs remain in check

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics now tracks labor-compensation costs for 15 major metropolitan areas of the U.S.

The closest to the cities of the Gulf Coast is Miami-Fort Lauderdale, where total compensation costs for private industry workers for the year ended in September increased 1.3%. One year ago, compensation costs were rising at a 1.7% annual clip.

Over the year ended in September, total compensation costs for the nation rose 2%.

In the South, Atlanta posted the biggest increase in labor-compensation costs for the year at 3.8%. Dallas posted the smallest increase at 1.1%.