Worker productivity slows sharply
Worker productivity, the key factor in rising living standards, slowed sharply in the final three months of the year while wage pressures increased.The Labor Department reported Wednesday that productivity, the amount of output per hour of work, increased at an annual rate of 1.8 percent in the October-December quarter, down from a 6 percent performance in the July-September period.
US non-farm productivity, measured as hourly output per worker, rose at a 1.8 percent pace in the preliminary fourth quarter data, news that may help comfort a Federal Reserve that has shifted its focus away from inflation to slash interest rates in recent weeks to curb slowing growth.