US Economy
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WASHINGTON (Aug 6): US worker <a href="https://bitcomme.com/powering-productivity-at-badger-paperboard/” title=”Powering productivity at Badger Paperboard”>productivity grew faster than expected in the second quarter and further gains are likely as businesses invest in artificial intelligence, which is expected to keep wage inflation contained.
Non-farm productivity, which measures hourly output per worker, increased at a 1.4% annualised rate last quarter after advancing at an upwardly revised 0.8% pace in the January-March quarter, the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics said on Thursday. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast productivity would grow at a 0.6% rate following a previously reported 0.3% pace of increase in the first quarter.
Productivity grew at a 2.2% rate from a year ago. It has grown at a 2.1% rate from the fourth quarter of 2019 through the second quarter of 2026. Economists and policymakers are anticipating an AI buildout will boost productivity and curb inflation through a reduction in labour costs.
Unit labour costs — the price of labor per single unit of output — increased at a 1.3% rate last quarter, after rising at a downwardly revised 1.3% pace in the first quarter.
Economists had expected unit labour costs to increase at a 2.1% rate last quarter after a previously reported 1.8% pace of growth in the January-March quarter. Labour costs grew at a 1.4% rate from a year ago. Hourly compensation increased at a 2.7% rate last quarter and grew at a 3.7% pace from a year ago.
Uploaded by Magessan Varatharaja
