US worker productivity up modestly in April-June

[Omaha Steve]

http://apnews.excite.com/article/20130816/DA8728KO1.html

By PAUL WISEMAN Aug 16, 9:08 AM (ET)

WASHINGTON (AP) - U.S. worker productivity accelerated to a still-modest 0.9 percent annual pace between April and June after dropping the previous quarter.

The second-quarter gain beat economists' expectations and reversed a decline in the January-March quarter, when the Labor Department's revised numbers show productivity shrank at a 1.7 percent annual pace.


In this Wednesday, May 8, 2013, file photo, Jeff Caldwell, 29, right, a chassis assembly line supervisor, checks a vehicle on the assembly line at the Chrysler Jefferson North Assembly plant in Detroit. The government reports on worker productivity and labor costs in the April-June quarter on Friday,Aug. 16, 2013. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)


Labor costs rose at a 1.4 percent annual pace from April through June, reversing a revised 4.2 percent drop the previous quarter.

Productivity measures output per hour of work. Weak productivity suggests that companies may have to hire because they can't squeeze more work from their existing employees - that is, if demand for a company's products is growing.

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