U.S. businesses produced goods and services more efficiently in the third quarter than originally believed, mainly by boosting output while keeping labor and other costs down.
Productivity rose a revised 2.9% in the July-to-September period, up from a first reading of 1.9%, the Labor Department said Wednesday. Figures for productivity are revised twice after the initial report is released.
Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had expected productivity to be revised up to 2.8%, compared to a 1.9% gain in the second quarter.
The amount of goods and services produced, known as output, was revised up to 4.2% from 3.2%. That accounted entirely for the big upward move.
The number of hours employees worked was unchanged at a 1.3% increase.
Unit-labor costs sank 1.9% vs. an original decline of just 0.1%. Unit-labor costs reflect how much it costs a business to produce one unit of output, such as a ton of coal or a bushel of wheat.
The amount of hourly pay rose 0.9% in the third quarter, down from a prior estimate of 1.8%.
After accounting for inflation, however, hourly wages dropped 1.4% instead of a 0.4% decline. And the gain for the second quarter was reduced to 0.6% from 2.8%.
Over the past 12 months, inflation-adjusted wages have risen a scant 0.1%. That largely reflects an increase in inflation that’s offset the slow growth in earnings.
So far this year, productivity has expanded at an annual 1.4% pace. Since 1947, productivity growth has averaged about 2.2% annually.
Higher productivity is the key to a nation becoming richer because it results in bigger profits for businesses and eventually larger paychecks for workers. Low productivity is a sign of poor or declining economic health.
The rate of productivity, combined with population growth, suggests the ceiling for the U.S. economy’s growth in 2012 is around 2%. That’s not fast enough to rapidly reduce the nation’s 7.9% unemployment rate.
Yet quarterly productivity data is frequently subject to large revisions and economists caution that it can take several quarters to establish a trend.
In the manufacturing sector, meanwhile, the decline in productivity was revised down to 0.7% from 0.4%.作者: sniffer 时间: 2012-12-5 10:23
at that news
after its down
apple fault作者: aimei 时间: 2012-12-5 12:46
Obama rejects Republican 'fallback' budget plan
President Barack Obama on Wednesday rejected a nascent Republican plan that would have extended the bitter fight over the fiscal cliff into next year, closer to the deadline when the statutory borrowing limit must be passed. A report in the New York Times said this fallback position was gaining favor among Republican leaders. It would allow them to gain more leverage knowing that an increase in the debt ceiling must be passed. But, in blunt terms, Obama said that he would not negotiate a budget deal with the threat of the debt limit hanging over his head. "That is a bad strategy for America...and it is not a game I will play," Obama said作者: aimei 时间: 2012-12-5 12:57
RED only NAZ 作者: aimei 时间: 2012-12-5 13:47
太奇怪了
Dow up 130
Naz down 6作者: CoolMax 时间: 2012-12-5 14:06
Bank of America Corp. BAC +5.37% shares rose more than 5% on Wednesday afternoon and topped $1 for the first time since July of 2011. The stock is very active, and has already traded more than 300 million shares during the session. That's more than twice the stock's average volume over the last 30 days. The gain comes on the same day that rival Citigroup Inc. C +7.29% shares are rising more than 7% after that firm unveiled a plan to cut 11,000 jobs and trim costs.作者: aimei 时间: 2012-12-5 17:15
