U.S. nonfarm unit productivity rose at a 1.3% annual rate in the third quarter, up from a 1.1% projection in the previous estimate but off from the 3.6% growth in the second quarter, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported yesterday.
Unit-labor cost growth increased at a 2.8% rate in the third quarter, off from the 3.6% pace in the previous estimate, but up from a 2.6% decline in the second quarter.
Thomson Reuters poll of economists expected a 1.0% rise in productivity and a 3.4% gain in unit labor costs.
The implicit price deflator slowed to a 4.9% pace in the quarter, down from 5.0% in the previous estimate, but up from 0.9% in the second quarter. Year-over-year growth in productivity slid to a 2.1% rate from 3.2% in the previous quarter. Unit-labor cost growth accelerated to a 1.4% year-to-year gain from a 0.1% rise in the previous quarter.
