Indicators
US Productivity Drops for First Time Since 2022 as Output Falls
An employee works at a bus manufacturing facility in Lancaster, California.
Photographer: Kyle Grillot/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
US labor productivity fell in the first quarter for the first time in nearly three years as economic output declined, snapping a streak of efficiency gains that have helped temper the inflationary impact from employment costs.
Productivity, or nonfarm employee output per hour, decreased at a 0.8% annualized rate after a revised 1.7% increase in the fourth quarter, data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed Thursday.