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Economy in Brief
Texas Manufacturing Activity Weakens Further During January
The Dallas Fed reported that its Texas Manufacturing Outlook Survey General Business Activity Index fell to 7.0 during January...
Chicago Fed National Activity Index Improves During December
The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago's National Activity Index increased to 0.52 during December...
German IFO Gauge Weakens Again
The IFO climate diffusion gauge fell to -0.6 in January...
U.S. Existing Home Sales Edge Up in December; 2020 Sales Are Highest Since 2006
The NAR reported that sales of existing homes rose 0.7% (22.2% y/y) during December...
Composite PMIs...the Best of Times; the Worst of Times-Really?
PMI data now rank observations on their range of values since December 2016...
Viewpoints
Commentaries are the opinions of the author and do not reflect the views of Haver Analytics.
by Tom Moeller November 6, 2019
Productivity in the nonfarm business sector eased 0.3% at an annual rate (+1.4% y/y) during Q3'19 following a 2.5% Q2 rise, revised from 2.3%. It was the first decline in productivity since Q4'15. Expectations had been for a 0.9% rise in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. The decline reflected a 2.1% rise (2.3% y/y) in real output that was accompanied by a lesser 2.4% gain (0.9% y/y) in hours-worked.
The weakness in productivity raised unit labor costs by a 3.6% rate after a 2.4% rise, revised from 2.6%. A 2.2% increase had been expected. The 3.1% y/y gain was accelerated from 1.0% y/y in Q4'18, and the quickest since Q1'14. Compensation per hour rose 3.3% last quarter (4.5% y/y) after a 4.9% Q2 rise.
In the manufacturing sector, productivity eased 0.1% both q/q and y/y. That followed a 2.4% Q2 fall which was revised from -2.2%. The decline reflected a 1.1% rise (-0.5% y/y) in real output that was accompanied by a 1.3% gain (-0.4% y/y) in hours-worked. Unit labor costs in the factory sector strengthened 3.6% (4.9% y/y) after a 6.9% jump. Compensation in the factory sector rose 3.5% (4.8% y/y) following a 4.4% increase.
The productivity & cost figures are available in Haver's USECON database.
Is Rising Concentration Hampering Productivity Growth? from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco can be found here.
Productivity & Costs (SAAR, %) | Q3'19 | Q2'19 | Q1'19 | Q3'19 Y/Y | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nonfarm Business Sector | |||||||
Output per Hour (Productivity) | -0.3 | 2.5 | 3.5 | 1.4 | 1.3 | 1.3 | 0.3 |
Compensation per Hour | 3.3 | 4.9 | 9.4 | 4.5 | 3.1 | 3.5 | 1.1 |
Unit Labor Costs | 3.6 | 2.4 | 5.7 | 3.1 | 1.8 | 2.1 | 0.8 |
Manufacturing Sector | |||||||
Output per Hour (Productivity) | -0.1 | -2.4 | 1.2 | -0.1 | 0.7 | 1.2 | -0.1 |
Compensation per Hour | 3.5 | 4.4 | 8.2 | 4.8 | 2.2 | 3.5 | 0.5 |
Unit Labor Costs | 3.6 | 6.9 | 6.9 | 4.9 | 1.4 | 2.3 | 0.6 |