More News About the Second Quarter
More productivity growth and less wage growth than I had thought we would see:
WSJ.com - Productivity, Labor Costs Cooled Off in 2nd Quarter: The Labor Department reported Tuesday that nonfarm business productivity grew at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 2.2% from April through June, down from the revised 3.2% rate in the first quarter. Meanwhile, unit labor costs grew at an annual rate of 1.3% in the second quarter, the slowest increase in a year. Unit labor costs in the first quarter grew at a revised 3.6% rate.... Adjusted for inflation, compensation per hour fell at a 0.6% rate during the second quarter, compared with a revised 4.5% annual growth rate the previous quarter. Output growth edged up slightly to a 4.4% annual rate in the second quarter from a revised 4.3% in the first quarter. Workers' hours rose to a 2.1% growth rate in the second quarter from a 1.1% rate in the previous quarter.
In the nonfinancial corporate sector, the report showed productivity grew at a 3.6% annual rate in the January-March quarter, the latest for which the data are available. That was down from a revised 8.5% rate in the previous quarter. The Labor Department also lowered its estimates for productivity growth in the past three years to reflect revisions in gross domestic product announced late last month. Productivity grew by 3.4% last year rather than the previously reported 4% gain. Productivity growth in 2003 was lowered to 3.8% instead of 4.3%, and to 4% in 2002 rather than the previously reported 4.3%...
