Productivity Rises 1.3% in Q3

Dec. 3, 2008
But manufacturing fell 2.7%

The U.S. Labor Deparment reported on Dec. 3 that in its revised report, productivity rose at an annual rate of 1.3%. This was down form a 3.6% growth in the second quarter but was higher than the 1.1% reported last month.

In manufacturing, revised productivity changes in the third quarter were:

  • -2.7 percent in manufacturing,
  • +2.9 percent in durable goods manufacturing, and
  • -10.2 percent in nondurable goods manufacturing.

In the manufacturing sector, productivity fell 1.7 percentage points more than was reported on November 6, as a 2% downward revision to output was partially offset by a 0.4% downward revision to hours, according to the report.

Unit labor costs rose at 2.8% in the third quarter compared to 2.6% in the second quarter.

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