WASHINGTON, Sept 3 (Reuters) – U.S. worker productivity growth picked up in the second quarter, the government confirmed on Thursday, helping to keep labor costs in check.
Nonfarm productivity, which measures hourly output per worker, increased at an unrevised 1.4% annualized rate last quarter the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics said. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast productivity would be unrevised. Productivity grew at a 0.8% rate in the first quarter.
It grew at an unrevised 2.2% rate from a year ago. Economists and policymakers expect the rapid adoption of artificial intelligence by businesses will boost productivity and restrain inflation through a reduction in labor costs.
Unit labor costs – the price of labor per single unit of output – increased at a downwardly revised 1.2% rate. They were previously estimated to have risen at a 1.3% pace. Labor costs grew at an unrevised 1.4% rate from a year ago.
(Reporting by Lucia MutikaniEditing by Ros Russell)
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