Non-farm productivity fell 1.9% in the first quarter, according to the preliminary data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics Wednesday.
Unit labor costs gained 5.0% in the quarter.
Output slipped 0.2%. Hours worked grew 1.7%.
In the fourth quarter, productivity fell 2.1%, while year-over-year productivity was up 0.6%. Unit labor costs rose 4.2% in the fourth quarter of 2014.
Economists polled by Thomson Reuters expected productivity to fall 2.0% and labor costs to grow 4.0%.
Inflows returned to muni mutual funds as investors added $200.3 million for the week ending Wednesday after $1.474 billion of outflows, according to LSEG Lipper.
Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly nixed another tax cut bill passed by the Republican-led legislature this year, while pushing a less-costly plan.
It's a big week for the Fortress-backed train company, which refinanced more than $4 billion of debt and broke ground on its West Coast high-speed line.
Photos from The Bond Buyer's Texas Public Finance conference.
The Mayo Clinic is undertaking a $5 billion expansion that may bring new debt as it reconstructs its core Rochester, Minnesota campus.
"Just like the ATM became an additional transaction channel in the banking industry, I believe distributed ledger technology will provide municipal issuers with a similarly valued tool to sell their bonds," said Rick Coscia, Quincy's Strategic Asset Manager.
