By Jim Cline and Kate Kremer
The latest release of CPI shows that it is continue to climb, edging up enough that it may also bump up contract settlements. The April CPI was released this past week showing the Seattle CPI-W climbing to 2.6. The All-Cities-W index, although also climbing, continues to significantly lag behind at 0.8. This chart reveals the trend line in those two indices over the past 12 months:
We are also tracking other CPI indices sometimes used in Washington labor negotiations and the Seattle indices continue to lead:
Our recent tracking of wage settlements have shown trends in the 2.0 to 2.5 range. If the CPI continues to remain above 2.5 with a rising trajectory, it seems that this very likely will push many more settlements in the 2.5% to 3.0% range. We’ll offer an update on wage trends in another future article but overall we are anticipating some upward pressure on settlements.