Productivity down for second consecutive quarter

The productivity of US workers dropped from April through June for the second consecutive quarter, pushing labour costs up from 2010’s record low.

The measure of employee output per hour decreased at a 0.3 per cent annual rate in the second quarter after a 0.6 per cent drop in the prior three months, figures from the labour department showed on Tuesday in Washington. The median estimate of 60 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News projected a 0.9 per cent decrease. Expenses per employee climbed at a 2.2 per cent rate.