Productivity Off 0.9%; Labor Costs Rise 1.3%

WASHINGTON — U.S. non-farm productivity dropped at a revised 0.9% annualized rate in the first quarter of 2012, originally reported as a 0.5% decrease, after rising 1.2% in the fourth quarter of 2011, the Labor Department reported Wednesday.

The decline reflected increases of 2.4% in output and 3.3% in hours worked, the department said.

Unit labor costs, a ratio of hourly compensation to labor productivity, rose a revised 1.3% in the first quarter, originally reported as a 2.0% gain, after a revised 1.5% decrease in the previous quarter.

Economists polled by Thomson Reuters predicted a 0.7% drop in productivity and a 2.2% increase in unit labor costs.

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