Preliminary productivity for third-quarter was 4.9%
- 2nd quarter productivity came in at 10.6%
- US third-quarter productivity dips to 4.6% from 4.9% in the preliminary report. The estimate was for 4.9%
- unit labor costs fell -6.6% vs. -8.9% estimate and -8.9% previously reported
- unit labor costs in the 2nd quarter rose by 8.5%
- output rose by 43.4% in the 3rd quarter vs. 43.5% in the preliminary report
- employee hours rose 37.1% up from 36.8% in the preliminary report
- compensation per hour felt -2.3% vs. -4.4% in the preliminary
- real compensation fell -7.1% vs. -9.1% in the preliminary report
- unit non-labor costs rose 22.9% vs 26.8% in the preliminary report
- price deflator rose 4.4% in the 3Q vs +4.4% in the preliminary report
IN a nutshell productivity rose at the expense of unit labor costs as the impact of Covid led to planning of labor cost belts. However, the data is still largely influenced by Covid and is not necessarily smoothed out (it is relatively old third-quarter data).
