The productivity of American workers fell by a revised 2.1% annual rate in the first quarter. The increase was originally put at a decline of 2.7% in the government’s preliminary report last month.
Over the past year, productivity has declined by a revised 0.8%, The annual rate has been negative for a record five straight quarters.
Output, or the amount of goods and services produced, was somewhat stronger than previously reported. The increase was raised to 0.5% from 0.2%.
Hours worked was revised down a tick to show a 2.6% annual rate of growth, down from 3%.
Unit labor costs were revised down to a 4.2% rate from the initial estimate of 6.3%,
Economists say that no data has been more roiled by the pandemic than worker productivity. As a result, analysts are not drawing too many conclusions from the recent weakness.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note
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slipped to 3.63% after the data was released.
This story originally appeared on Marketwatch
