By Jeffry Bartash
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - U.S. productivity rose at a modest 1.6% clip in the second quarter, the government reported Wednesday, as output of goods and services rose much faster than the amount of time employees worked. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch expected productivity to climb by 1.3%. The Labor Department said output rose 2.0% in the April-to-June period, while hours worked increased at a slower 0.4% rate. That was down sharply from a 3.2% gain in hours worked during the first quarter. Unit-labor costs, meanwhile, slowed to a 1.7% increase from 5.6% in the first quarter. Hourly wages, after factoring out inflation, rose 2.6% to match the first-quarter gain. In the manufacturing sector, productivity slowed to a 0.2% increase from 5.5% in the first three months of 2012.
