The Employment Cost Index (ECI) holds a special place at the Fed—it's their go-to gauge for tracking compensation trends. Latest data on private sector wages and salaries, stripping out incentive-heavy jobs, tells an interesting story. Pay growth has ticked down just a hair this year. Nothing dramatic, but the deceleration is there if you look closely. Still, whether you measure it year-over-year or through other timeframes, wage momentum remains pretty firm. Not collapsing, not exploding—just grinding along at a steady clip that keeps policymakers watching closely.