Productivity down 4.2%, largest decline in nearly 40 years [View all]
Source: AP
By MARTIN CRUTSINGER
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. productivity fell at an annual rate of 4.2% in the fourth quarter, the largest quarterly decline in nearly four decades.
The revised figure released by the Labor Department Thursday was slightly smaller than the 4.7% decline estimated a month ago. But it was still the biggest drop since the second quarter of 1981, when productivity fell at a rate of 5.1%.
Labor costs rose at a 6% rate in the fourth quarter, slightly lower than the 6.8% first estimated.
Productivity is the amount of output per hour of work. The revisions reflected the fact that the government made changes to its estimate gross domestic product, the country’s total output of goods and services, to show an increase of 4.1% at an annual rate in the fourth quarter, slightly higher than its initial estimate of 4% growth.
FILE - In this June 11, 2020 file photo, workers on scaffolding lay blocks on one of the larger buildings at a development site where various residential units and commercial sites are under construction in Cranberry Township, Butler County, Pa. U.S. productivity increased at a solid 4.6% pace in the July-September quarter, slightly below the initial estimate, while labor costs fell at a slower pace. The Labor Department reported that the third quarter increase in productivity was below the first estimate a month ago of a 4.9% increase. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic, File)
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