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U.S. productivity declines in Q4

Xinhua, February 6, 2015 Adjust font size:

The labor productivity of the U. S. nonfarm business sector decreased at a 1.8 percent annual rate from October to December of 2014, according to the U.S. Labor Department on Thursday.

The gain in productivity reflected increases of 3.2 percent in output and 5.1 percent in hours worked in that period, the department said in a report. Annual average productivity increased 0.8 percent from 2013 to 2014.

Unit labor costs increased 2.7 percent in the fourth quarter, and rose 1.9 percent over the last four quarters.

Productivity measures the amount of output per hour of work. Increasing productivity can slow job creation because it means companies can get more out of their current staff without hiring more workers. Endite