WASHINGTON - U.S. non-farm productivity fell 0.7% at an annualized rate in the second quarter, compared to an initially estimated 0.3% fall, the Labor Department reported Thursday.
First-quarter productivity was unrevised at a 0.6% decline.
Unit labor costs, a ratio of hourly compensation to labor productivity, were up 3.3%, an increase from the preliminary 2.2% estimate for the quarter but down from revised 6.2% growth in the first quarter. Labor costs have risen 1.9% over the last four quarters.
Economists expected productivity to fall 0.5% and unit labor costs to increase 2.4% according to the median estimate from Thomson Reuters.
Workers' output was up 1.3%. Hours worked rose 2.0%. Real hourly compensation fell 1.4% after a 0.3% first quarter rise.
In the manufacturing sector, productivity fell 1.5% in the second quarter after a 4.2% increase in the first quarter. Manufacturers' unit labor costs rose 4.6% vs. a revised 0.1% first quarter drop. Their costs are up 0.4% over the last four quarters.
For the non-financial corporate sector, the Labor Department released a preliminary second quarter estimate of 4.4% productivity growth after a revised 2.3% increase in the first quarter.
The new Labor Department numbers follow the Commerce Department's downward revision of output in its latest GDP report.
