American workers were less productive in the first three months of this year than previously thought, the government said Thursday.
U.S. productivity was revised to a 0.2 percent annual rate of growth for the first quarter, down from 0.3 percent initially estimated.
This small gain in productivity came from weaker output of goods and services produced. In the first quarter, output rose at an annual rate of 0.9 percent, a downward revision from the earlier estimate of 1.3 percent.
Hours worked rose at a 0.6 percent annual rate, a downward revision from the preliminary estimate of one percent.
Unit labor costs were revised down to a four percent annualized increase, substantially lower than the 4.7 percent increase. Despite the downward revision, the increase in unit labor costs is high enough to suggest that inflation could still prove stubborn this year. At the end of last year, unit labor costs fell 2.8 percent.
