Só imigração fez subir mão de obra. Contributo foi dos maiores da UE

[Info.]

8:30am 01/29/04 U.S. AVG. CONTINUING JOBLESS CLAIMS LOWEST SINCE 8/01
8:30am 01/29/04 U.S. Q4 EMPLOYMENT COST INDEX UP 0.7%
8:30am 01/29/04 U.S. Q4 BENEFITS UP 1.2%, WAGES UP 0.5%
8:30am 01/29/04 U.S. 2003 EMPLOYMENT COSTS UP 3.8%
8:30am 01/29/04 U.S. 4-WEEK INITIAL JOBLESS CLAIMS UP 750 TO 346,000

U.S. Q4 employment costs up 0.7%

WASHINGTON (CBS.MW) - The cost of employing a U.S. worker increased a modest 0.7 percent in the fourth quarter, with the bulk of the increase coming from higher costs for fringe benefits such as health care, the Labor Department reported Thursday.
Benefit costs soared 1.2 percent while wages and salaries rose 0.5 percent.
For all of 2003, employment costs increased 3.8 percent, with benefit costs rising 6.3 percent and wages increasing 2.9 percent.
Employment costs had risen 3.4 percent in 2002. It was the fastest increase in benefit costs since 1990.
Economists were expecting a 0.9 percent gain in employment costs.

U.S. jobless claims nearly unchanged

WASHINGTON (CBS.MW) - Initial claims for state unemployment benefits were nearly identical for the past three weeks, the Labor Department reported Thursday.
The seasonally adjusted four-week average of new state claims inched higher by 750 to 346,000 in the week ending Jan. 24 from a three-year low of 345,250. It's the first increase since the first week of December.
Initial claims in the most recent week dipped by 1,000 to 342,000.
Meanwhile, the number of Americans collecting state jobless benefits rose by 11,000 to 3.13 million in the week ending Jan. 17.
The four-week average for continuing claims sank by 40,750 to 3.16 million, the lowest since August 2001.