Research >> Economics
2Q Productivity Growth was -0.9%
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Nonfarm business sector labor productivity decreased at a 0.9 percent annual rate during the second quarter of 2010, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today, with output and hours rising 2.6 percent and 3.6 percent, respectively. (All quarterly percent changes in this release are seasonally adjusted annual rates.) The decline in output per hour follows five quarters of strong productivity growth. The second-quarter gain in hours worked was the largest since the first quarter of 2006 when hours rose 4.1 percent. From the second quarter of 2009 to the second quarter of 2010, both productivity and output increased 3.9 percent; hours were unchanged.
Unit labor costs in nonfarm businesses edged up 0.2 percent in the second quarter of 2010, the result of productivity declining more than hourly compensation. Over the last four quarters, unit labor costs fell 2.8 percent as output per hour increased faster than hourly compensation.
Manufacturing sector productivity grew 4.5 percent in the second quarter of 2010, as output rose 8.3 percent and hours worked increased 3.6 percent. Durable manufacturing sector productivity increased 11.2 percent as the increase in output outpaced the increase in hours. The reverse was true for nondurable manufacturing industries, where productivity decreased 2.8 percent, given that the increase in hours was larger than the increase in output.
Unit labor costs in manufacturing declined 6.1 percent in the second quarter of 2010 and fell 6.9 percent over the last four quarters. The four-quarter decline was the largest in the series, which begins in the first quarter of 1988.
Posted: August 10, 2010 Tuesday 08:30 AM