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Economy in Brief
Chicago Business Barometer Declines Sharply in February
The ISM-Chicago Purchasing Managers Business Barometer fell 4.3 points in February to 59.5...
Goods Trade Deficit Widened Slightly in January
The advance estimate of the U.S. trade deficit in goods widened slightly to $83.74 billion in January..
Japan's Industrial Sector Mounts a Comeback
Japan's IP surged in January gaining 4.3% compared to December...
Aircraft Orders Boost U.S. Durable Goods Orders in January
Manufacturers' orders for durable goods increased a much larger-than-expected 3.4% m/m (4.5% y/y) in January...
Kansas City Fed Manufacturing Index Increases Again in February
The Kansas City Fed reported that its manufacturing sector business activity index rose to 24 in February...
Viewpoints
Commentaries are the opinions of the author and do not reflect the views of Haver Analytics.
by Tom Moeller September 7, 2005
Non-farm labor productivity last quarter was revised down to 1.8% from 2.2%. Consensus expectations had been for 2.1% growth. Growth in output was lowered to 4.1% from 4.4% reported initially while hours worked were raised to 2.2% from 2.1%.
Unit labor cost growth was revised sharply higher to 2.5% from 1.3% reflecting the reduction in productivity, but compensation costs were raised even more to 4.4% from 3.5%.
Factory sector productivity growth was similarly reduced to 3.6% (4.6% y/y) from 4.1% due to a lowered estimate of output.An upward revision to manufacturing compensation growth to 8.4% from 6.6% raised unit Labor costs sharply to 4.7% (4.3% y/y) from 2.3%.
Reported for the first time, nonfinancial corporate sector productivity surged 6.8% (6.3% y/y) and the spike lowered unit labor costs by 2.6% (+0.3% y/y). Output rose 9.5% (8.0% y/y). This measure is gleaned from the income side of the National Income & Product Accounts (NIPA) as opposed to the non-farm and manufacturing figures which are derived from the output side.
Analysis of the Economic & Budgetary Effects of Hurricane Katrina from the US Congressional Budget Office can be found here.
Non-farm Business Sector (SAAR) | 2Q '05 (Revised) | 2Q '05 (Prelim.) | 1Q '05 | Y/Y | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Output per Hour | 1.8% | 2.2% | 3.2% | 2.2% | 3.4% | 3.8% | 4.0% |
Compensation | 4.4% | 3.5% | 5.5% | 6.5% | 4.5% | 4.0% | 3.5% |
Unit Labor Costs | 2.5% | 1.3% | 2.2% | 4.2% | 1.1% | 0.2% | -0.5% |