U.S. productivity rises 1.67% in 2Q

U.S. PRODUCTIVITY increased 1.67 percent and unit labor costs rose 1.7 percent in the nonfarm business sector during the second quarter of 2012 / COURTESY U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS
U.S. PRODUCTIVITY increased 1.67 percent and unit labor costs rose 1.7 percent in the nonfarm business sector during the second quarter of 2012 / COURTESY U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS

WASHINGTON – Productivity in the United States increased 1.67 percent and unit labor costs rose 1.7 percent in the nonfarm business sector during the second quarter of 2012, reported the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

According to the BLS report, the rise in productivity reflects increases of 2 percent in output and 0.4 percent in hours worked, seasonally adjusted.

Year over year, from the second quarter of 2011, productivity rose 1.1 percent as output and hours worked rose 2.9 percent and 1.8 percent, respectively.

The BLS calculated labor productivity, also known as output per hour, by dividing an index of real output by an index of hours worked by employees, proprietors and unpaid family workers.

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Unit labor costs in nonfarm business increased 1.7 percent in the second quarter and hourly compensation increased 3.3 percent. Over the last four quarters, unit labor costs rose 0.8 percent.

Productivity in the manufacturing second rose 0.2 percent during the second quarter as output and hours worked grew 1.7 percent and 1.4 percent respectively.

Over the last four quarters, manufacturing productivity increased 1.4 percent, output increased 5.6 percent and hours works rose 2.6 percent.

Unit labor costs in manufacturing rose 0.3 percent during the second quarter of 2012 and dropped 2.9 percent from the same quarter a year ago.

Manufacturing-sector productivity rose 0.2 percent in the second quarter of 2012, as output grew 1.7

For the full report, visit www.bls.gov.

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