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.
The 0.9% drop in productivity was more than the median 0.7% decline projected by economists polled by Thomson Reuters. The 1.3% increase in unit labor costs was less than their median projection of a 2.2% gain.
The revised 2.4% gain in non-farm business workers' output for the first quarter, originally reported as a 2.7% increase, compared to a gain of 3.7% in the previous quarter. The 3.3% increase in hours worked, originally reported as a 3.2% gain, compared to a 2.4% increase for the previous quarter.
Hourly compensation rose a revised 0.4%, first reported as a 1.5% gain, after falling a revised 0.4% in the fourth quarter of 2011.
In the manufacturing sector, productivity rose a revised 5.2% in the first quarter, originally reported as a 5.9% gain, after increasing 0.6% in the previous quarter.
Unit labor costs fell a revised 4.9%, originally reported as a 4.2% decline, after falling a revised 4.2% in the prior quarter.
