US Productivity Jumps by Most Since 2020, Blunting Labor Costs
- Real hourly compensation logs first increase in almost a year
- Advance in productivity could help curb inflation if sustained
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US labor productivity logged its biggest increase in the second quarter in nearly three years, helping to offset rising labor costs.
Productivity, or nonfarm business employee output per hour, rose at a 3.7% annual rate in the second quarter after registering a decline in the first three months of the year, according to figures out Thursday from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists had called for a 2.2% rise.