WASHINGTON (AFX) - The employment cost index rose a seasonally adjusted 0.9 pct in the second quarter, the Labor Department said. This is the smallest increase in the ECI since the fourth quarter of 2000. On a year-on-year basis, the index rose 3.9 pct. The gain in the second quarter employment cost index was lower than Wall Street expectations. The consensus forecast of Wall Street economists called for the ECI to rise 1.1 pct. In the first quarter the employment cost index increased 1.1 pct and rose 4.1 pct year-on-year. Benefits rose 1.0 pct in the second quarter, compared with the 1.3 pct increase in the first quarter. On a year-on-year basis, benefit costs were up 4.5 pct in the second quarter, compared with a 3.8 pct rise in the first quarter. Wages and salaries, which account for 70 pct of compensation, rose 1.0 pct in the second quarter, compared with a 1.0 pct rise in the first quarter. On a year-on-year basis, wages were up 3.7 pct in the second quarter, down from a 4.7 pct gain in the first quarter.