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Economy in Brief
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The OECD amplitude-adjusted leading economic indicators show a slowing-to-mixed pattern...
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Existing home sales declined 4.6% (-7.1% y/y) to 6.180 million units (SAAR) in December...
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The Philadelphia Fed's Manufacturing Business Conditions Index rebounded in January, rising more than expected to 23.2...
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Initial claims for unemployment insurance rose to 286,000 (-67.7% y/y) during the week ended January 15...
French INSEE Survey Scores Solid Marks with Mixed Momentum
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Viewpoints
Commentaries are the opinions of the author and do not reflect the views of Haver Analytics.
by Tom Moeller November 1, 2018
Output per hour in the nonfarm business sector grew 2.2% (SAAR, 1.3% y/y) in Q3'18 following a 3.0% gain in Q2. A 2.0% rise had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. Nonfarm business output rose 4.1% (3.7% y/y) following a 5.0% increase while hours-worked improved 1.8% (2.4% y/y) after a 2.0% gain.
Unit labor costs rose 1.2% (1.5% y/y) last quarter and reversed a 1.0% Q2 decline. A 1.1% increase had been expected. Compensation grew 3.5% (2.8% y/y) following a 1.9% increase.
In the manufacturing sector, productivity edged 0.5% higher (1.3% y/y) after a 1.2% rise. Output increased 3.4% both q/q and y/y after a 2.6% gain. Hours-worked grew 2.9% (2.1% y/y) following a 1.4% rise.
Unit labor costs in the factory sector rose 0.9% both q/q and y/y after a 0.1% uptick. Compensation grew 1.5% in Q3 (2.2% y/y) after a 1.3% improvement.
The productivity & cost figures are available in Haver's USECON database. The expectations figures are from the Action Economics Forecast Survey and are found in the AS1REPNA database.
| Productivity & Costs (SAAR, %) | Q3'18 | Q2'18 | Q1'18 | Q3'18 Y/Y | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nonfarm Business Sector | |||||||
| Output per Hour (Productivity) | 2.2 | 3.0 | 0.3 | 1.3 | 1.1 | 0.1 | 1.3 |
| Compensation per Hour | 3.5 | 1.9 | 3.8 | 2.8 | 3.4 | 1.1 | 3.1 |
| Unit Labor Costs | 1.2 | -1.0 | 3.4 | 1.5 | 2.2 | 0.9 | 1.8 |
| Manufacturing Sector | |||||||
| Output per Hour (Productivity) | 0.5 | 1.2 | -0.8 | 1.3 | 0.7 | 0.3 | -1.5 |
| Compensation per Hour | 1.5 | 1.3 | 4.6 | 2.2 | 3.3 | 0.6 | 2.5 |
| Unit Labor Costs | 0.9 | 0.1 | 5.5 | 0.9 | 2.6 | 0.3 | 4.1 |
