The productivity of U.S. workers rose in the third quarter for the first time this year as companies tried to cut costs following a slowdown in growth.

The measure of employee output per hour increased at a 3.1 percent annual rate, following declines in each of the previous two quarters, figures from the Labor Department showed today in Washington. Expenses per employee fell at a 2.4 percent rate after a 2.8 percent gain in the second quarter.

Employers sought to cut costs by keeping payrolls down and squeezing more output from existing staff. Lower labor expenses, which account for about two-thirds of the cost of producing a good or service, may help hold down inflation, giving Federal Reserve leeway to take additional steps if needed to spur the world's largest economy.

Complete your profile to continue reading and get FREE access to Treasury & Risk, part of your ALM digital membership.

Your access to unlimited Treasury & Risk content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:

  • Thought leadership on regulatory changes, economic trends, corporate success stories, and tactical solutions for treasurers, CFOs, risk managers, controllers, and other finance professionals
  • Informative weekly newsletter featuring news, analysis, real-world case studies, and other critical content
  • Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
  • Critical coverage of the employee benefits and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.

Kicker
News