CNN  —  It wasn’t just inflation starting off 2024 hot, paychecks did as well. A closely watched measure of labor costs showed that compensation growth accelerated faster than expected during the first three months of the year, providing some continued good news for workers’ paychecks — but serving as a double-edged sword for central bankers looking for potential inflation pressures to ease. The Employment Cost Index rose a seasonally adjusted 1.2% last quarter, faster growth than the 0.9% increase the prior quarter, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data released Tuesday. On an annual basis, the index that measures changes in wages and benefits was unchanged at 4.2% for the year ending in March. Economists had expected quarterly growth to come in at 0.9% and for annual gains to slow to 4%. US stocks fell on the news, with Dow futures down by around 185 points, or 0.5%, in premarket trading Tuesday. Futures were lower by 0.43% on the S&P 500 and 0.46% on the Nasdaq Composite. The Federal Reserve is closely monitoring the trajectory of wage gains as there’s a concern that accelerated compensation growth may serve as an inflation pressure. The Fed favors the ECI over other wage trackers, because it provides a more comprehensive measurement of compensation and includes not just wages but also the costs of benefits provided to workers. The index also includes controls for changes in the composition of employment, essentially measuring wage costs for the same jobs over time.