US Productivity Slows, Inflation-Adjusted Wage Growth Revised Lower: Labor Statistics Bureau

Labor productivity and unit labor costs rose less than estimated in the first quarter, reflecting revised economic output and hours worked data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) on June 6. In the first three months of 2024, non-farm worker productivity, a measurement of hourly output per work, edged up at an annualized pace of 0.2 percent. This was down from last month’s initial forecast of 0.3 percent. The final estimate was down from the 3.5 percent growth in worker productivity reported in the fourth quarter of 2023. According to the federal agency, the final estimate showed an annualized increase of 4 percent in unit labor costs, adjusted downward from the first 4.7 percent reading....