Unit Labor Costs

The Unit Labor Cost released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Department of Labor shows a total cost of employing a labor force. It can serve as an indicator of trends in production costs, share prices, and inflation. A high reading is seen as positive (or bullish) for the USD, whereas a low reading is seen as negative ,or bearish.

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Most recent - Thursday 7 August 2025 12:30

6.9%

Revised

6.9%

Forecast

1.5%

Actual

1.6%

Higher numbers than forecast tend to be bullish for USD/xxx pairs and bearish for xxx/USD pairs.

Next event - Thursday 4 September 2025 12:30

Forecast

Actual

The typical/expected impact on USD pairs is medium.

There is no forecast value for Unit Labor Costs yet - check back for updates.

Trading range

Forecast history

The most recent announced value for Unit Labor Costs was 1.6% against a forecast of 1.5%.

Past events

Date

Forecast

Actual

Thursday 7 August 2025 12:30

1.5%

1.6%

Thursday 5 June 2025 12:30

5.7%

6.6%

Thursday 8 May 2025 12:30

5.3%

5.7%

Thursday 6 March 2025 13:30

2.2%

Thursday 6 February 2025 13:30

3.8%

Tuesday 10 December 2024 13:30

1.9%

0.8%

Thursday 7 November 2024 13:30

0.5%

1.9%

Thursday 5 September 2024 12:30

0.9%

0.4%

Thursday 1 August 2024 12:30

1.8%

0.9%

Thursday 6 June 2024 12:30

4.9%

Thursday 2 May 2024 12:30

3.2%

4.7%

Thursday 7 March 2024 13:30

0.6%

0.4%

Thursday 1 February 2024 13:30

1.7%

0.5%

Wednesday 6 December 2023 13:30

-0.9%

-1.2%

Thursday 2 November 2023 12:30

0.7%

-0.8%

Thursday 7 September 2023 12:30

1.6%

2.2%

Thursday 3 August 2023 12:30

2.6%

1.6%

Thursday 1 June 2023 12:30

4.2%

Thursday 4 May 2023 12:30

5.5%

6.3%

Thursday 2 March 2023 13:30

1.6%

3.2%

Thursday 2 February 2023 13:30

1.5%

1.1%

Wednesday 7 December 2022 13:30

3.2%

2.4%

Thursday 3 November 2022 12:30

4.1%

3.5%

Thursday 1 September 2022 12:30

10.7%

10.2%

Economic context

Recent economic data has been broadly neutral for USD. Other recent announcements which may affect the market's interpretation of the next Unit Labor Costs result:

		Previous	Latest
Michigan Consumer Expectations Index	Bearish change	57.2	55.9
Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index	Bearish change	58.6	58.2
UoM 1-year Consumer Inflation Expectations	Bearish change	4.9%	4.8%
UoM 5-year Consumer Inflation Expectation	Bearish change	3.9%	3.5%
Chicago PMI	Bearish change	47.1	41.5
Core Personal Consumption Expenditures - Price Index (MoM)	(no change)	0.3%	0.3%
Core Personal Consumption Expenditures - Price Index (YoY)	Bullish change	2.8%	2.9%
Personal Consumption Expenditures - Price Index (MoM)	Bearish change	0.3%	0.2%
Personal Consumption Expenditures - Price Index (YoY)	(no change)	2.6%	2.6%
Personal Income (MoM)	Bullish change	0.3%	0.4%
Personal Spending	Bullish change	0.3%	0.5%
Pending Home Sales (MoM)	Bullish change	-0.8%	-0.4%
Core Personal Consumption Expenditures (QoQ)	(no change)	2.5%	2.5%
Gross Domestic Product Annualized	Bullish change	3%	3.3%
Gross Domestic Product Price Index	(no change)	2%	2%
Initial Jobless Claims	Bullish change	234K	229K
Personal Consumption Expenditures Prices (QoQ)	Bearish change	2.1%	2%
Housing Price Index (MoM)	Bearish change	-0.1%	-0.2%
Durable Goods Orders	Bullish change	-9.3%	-2.8%
Durable Goods Orders ex Defense	Bullish change	-9.5%	-2.5%
Durable Goods Orders ex Transportation	Bullish change	0.3%	1.1%
Nondefense Capital Goods Orders ex Aircraft	Bullish change	-0.7%	1.1%
New Home Sales Change (MoM)	Bearish change	4.1%	-0.6%
Existing Home Sales Change (MoM)	Bullish change	-2.7%	2%
S&P Global Composite PMI	Bullish change	55.1	55.4
S&P Global Manufacturing PMI	Bullish change	49.8	53.3
S&P Global Services PMI	Bearish change	55.7	55.4
Initial Jobless Claims	Bearish change	224K	235K
Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Survey	Bearish change	15.9	-0.3
Building Permits (MoM)	Bearish change	1.393M	1.354M
Housing Starts (MoM)	Bullish change	1.321M	1.428M

About Unit Labor Costs

Country:	United States
Currency:	USD
Source:	US Bureau of Labor Statistics
Category:	Labor Market
Frequency:	Quarterly

Related events

	Australia		Unemployment Rate s.a.
	Australia		Employment Change s.a.
	Canada		Unemployment Rate
	Canada		Net Change in Employment
	New Zealand		Unemployment Rate
	New Zealand		Employment Change
	United Kingdom		Employment Change
	United Kingdom		ILO Unemployment Rate (3M)
	United Kingdom		Claimant Count Change
	United States		Nonfarm Payrolls
	United States		ADP Employment Change
	United States		Average Hourly Earnings (MoM)
	United States		Average Hourly Earnings (YoY)
	Australia		Wage Price Index (QoQ)
	Australia		Part-Time Employment
	Australia		Participation Rate
	Australia		Full-Time Employment
	Canada		Average Hourly Wages (YoY)
	Germany		Unemployment Change
	Germany		Unemployment Rate s.a.
	Eurozone		Unemployment Rate
	Eurozone		Employment Change (QoQ)
	Japan		Labor Cash Earnings (YoY)
	Japan		Unemployment Rate
	New Zealand		Participation Rate
	New Zealand		Labour Cost Index (QoQ)
	United Kingdom		Claimant Count Rate
	United Kingdom		Average Earnings Including Bonus (3Mo/Yr)
	United Kingdom		Average Earnings Excluding Bonus (3Mo/Yr)
	United States		ISM Manufacturing Employment Index
	United States		Personal Income (MoM)
	United States		Nonfarm Payrolls Benchmark Revision
	United States		ISM Services Employment Index
	United States		Unemployment Rate
	United States		Nonfarm Productivity
	United States		JOLTS Job Openings
	United States		Initial Jobless Claims
	United States		Challenger Job Cuts
	United States		Labor Force Participation Rate
	United States		U6 Underemployment Rate
	United States		Employment Cost Index

Calendar - Unit Labor Costs - United States

Unit Labor Costs

Most recent - Thursday 7 August 2025 12:30

Next event - Thursday 4 September 2025 12:30

Trading range

Trading range after each Unit Labor Costs event

Forecast history

Past events

Economic context

About Unit Labor Costs

Related events