Productivity And Labor Costs Rise

The upward revision to second-quarter GDP gave a strong lift to nonfarm productivity, up 3.3 percent at an annualized rate which is at the very top of the Econoday consensus and well up from plus 1.3 percent in the initial reading. This is the best performance since the fourth quarter of 2013. The gain in productivity in turn drove unit labor costs 1.4 percent lower which is well down from the prior estimate of plus 0.5 percent and at the very low end of consensus and the sharpest drop since the second quarter of 2014. Output rose a sharp 4.7 percent in the quarter while hours worked rose only 1.4 percent with compensation up only 1.8 percent. But year-on-year data tell a different story with productivity up 0.7 percent in the second quarter and labor costs up 1.7 percent. These readings reflect prior weakness in productivity tied to weak output in the first and fourth quarters. And the productivity outlook for the ongoing third quarter is also soft with early GDP estimates at roughly plus 2 to 2.5 percent. For reference, second-quarter GDP came in at 3.7 percent, revised from a prior reading of 2.3 percent.

Recent History Of This Indicator: The second estimate for productivity & costs is expected to show a rise in productivity growth to 2.8 percent from 1.3 percent reflecting the upward revision to second-quarter GDP. Higher productivity points to lower unit labor costs which are expected to fall 1.2 percent.