3Q Productivity Up 3.1%; Unit Labor Costs Off 2.4%

WASHINGTON — U.S. non-farm productivity rose 3.1% at an annualized rate in the third quarter, after falling a revised 0.1% in the second quarter, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

Unit labor costs, a ratio of hourly compensation to labor productivity, fell 2.4% in the third quarter, after rising a revised 2.8% in the previous quarter.

Non-farm business workers’ output was up 3.8%, compared to a revised gain of 1.8% in the second quarter. Hours worked were up 0.6%, after a revised 2.0% increase in the previous quarter.

Hourly compensation also rose slightly, 0.6%, after rising a revised 2.7% in the second quarter.

The gain in productivity was higher than the 2.7% projected by economists polled by Thomson Reuters. Unit labor costs fell more than their projection of a 0.5% decline.

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