Economics
US Productivity Falls for a Second Quarter, Labor Costs Surge
- Consecutive declines in output per hour worst back to 1947
- Unit labor costs jumped nearly 11% in second quarter
Photographer: Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg
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US productivity slumped for a second-straight quarter as the economy shrank, driving another surge in labor costs that risks keeping inflation elevated and further complicates the Federal Reserve’s efforts to tame price increases.
Productivity, or nonfarm business employee output per hour, decreased at a 4.6% annual rate in the second quarter after falling at a 7.4% pace in the previous three months, Labor Department figures showed Tuesday.