MW: U.S. productivity revised slightly higher for third quarter
By Rex Nutting
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- The productivity of U.S. workers was slightly stronger in the third quarter than previously reported, the Labor Department said Wednesday. Productivity in nonfarm businesses increased at an annual rate of 1.3% in the quarter, not 1.1%. Unit labor costs, a key gauge of wage-price pressures, rose 2.8%, not 3.6%. In the past year, productivity has risen 2.1%, while unit labor costs are up 1.4%. Real hourly compensation fell 1.6%. In the nonfinancial corporate sector, productivity is up 3.5% in the past year, with unit labor costs up 0.2%, real hourly compensation down 1.2%, and unit profits down 6.7%.
