US Non Farm Productivity for 4Q revised to -2.2% from -3.0% prior

Estimate was -2.9%.

The Unit labor costs fell to 3.3% from 4.3% estimate and 4.5% in the prior report. This is the most since early 2014.

• Output rose by 1% in 4Q. Up from 0.1%
• Employees hours rose 3.2% in 4Q up from 3.3% preliminary
• Compensation per hour roes 1.1% vs 1.1 preliminary

Slow growth with solid hiring hurt US productivity. For all of 2015, non farm output per hour of work rose by 0.7%. The last 5 years has averaged 0.5%. This is the weakest since 1978-1982 period. The blame is put on businesses who are meeting increased demand by hiring more workers vs investing in more technology.