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U.S. labor productivity falls at faster pace in Q4

Xinhua, March 6, 2015 Adjust font size:

U.S. labor productivity in the fourth quarter of 2014 was revised down, while labor costs rose at a faster rate compared to the previous estimate, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

Nonfarm business sector labor productivity decreased at a 2.2 percent annual rate during October-December, further down from the previous reports of a decline of 1.8 percent. Labor costs rose at a 4.1 percent rate, faster than the 2.6 percent increase first estimated.

The decrease in productivity reflected increases of 2.6 percent in output and 4.9 percent in hours worked in that period, the department said in a report. Annual average productivity increased 0.7 percent from 2013 to 2014.

Productivity measures the amount of output per hour of work. Analysts had expected the revision for productivity would be weaker than the first estimate, reflecting the fact that the estimate for economic growth was also revised down.

The latest data from the U.S. Commerce Department showed the U. S. economy expanded at a 2.2 percent annual rate in the fourth quarter of 2014, revised down from the advance estimate of 2.6 percent. Endite