US first-quarter productivity rises at its fastest pace in 11 years
The Labor Department said on Friday nonfarm productivity, which measures hourly output per worker, increased at a 7.3 percent annualized rate last quarter, its largest rise since the second quarter of 2009
US worker productivity increased at its fastest pace in 11 years in second quarter as hours plunged amid the Covid-19 pandemic, leading to an acceleration in labor costs.
The Labor Department said on Friday nonfarm productivity, which measures hourly output per worker, increased at a 7.3 percent annualized rate last quarter, its largest rise since the second quarter of 2009. Productivity fell at a 0.3 percent pace in the January-March period. Hours worked tumbled at a 43.0 percent rate in the second quarter, the largest since the series started in the first quarter of 1947.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast productivity rebounding at a 1.5 percent rate in the second quarter.
Compared to the second quarter of 2019, productivity rose at a 2.2 percent rate. Growth in unit labor costs - the price of labor per single unit of output - jumped at a 12.2 percent rate in the April-June quarter. Unit labor costs increased at a 9.8 percent rate in the first quarter. They rose at a 5.7 percent rate in from a year ago.
