Workers’ compensation and benefits rose 1.3% in the second quarter

Workers’ wages and benefits rose this year at the fastest pace on record, keeping pressure on historically high inflation.

Businesses and government employers spent 5.1 percent more on workers’ compensation in the second quarter than a year earlier, not adjusting for seasonality, the Labor Department said Friday. That marked the fastest annual pace since 2001, eclipsing the annual increase of 4.5% in the first quarter.