Recent Updates
- **EIA releases, including WPSR, are delayed by the source**
- US: New Residential Sales (May)
- Canada: Payroll Employment, Earnings, & Hours (Apr)
- Italy: Non-EU International Trade (May)
- Mexico: Economic Activity (Apr), Construction (Apr)
- more updates...
Economy in Brief
Italian Consumer Confidence Remains Hammered Down
Italy's consumer confidence fell month-to-month...
U.S. Current Account Deficit Deepens to Record in Q1'22
The U.S. current account deficit deepened to $291.4 billion during Q1'22...
Kansas City Fed Manufacturing Index Declines Further in June But Remains Positive
The Kansas City Fed reported that its manufacturing sector business activity index fell to 12 in June...
U.S. Unemployment Claims Edged Down
Initial claims for unemployment insurance filed in the week ended June 18 declined by 2,000 to 229,000...
U.S. Energy Prices Reverse Earlier Gains
Retail gasoline prices surged to $5.01 per gallon (63.1% y/y)...
Viewpoints
Commentaries are the opinions of the author and do not reflect the views of Haver Analytics.
by Sandy Batten September 2, 2021
• Q2 productivity rose 2.1% q/q saar, down from the initial estimate of 2.3%.
• Output growth a little stronger than initially reported, but hours worked also higher.
• Downward revision to productivity and upward revision to compensation yielded small upward revision to unit labor costs.
Nonfarm business sector productivity growth was revised down to 2.1% q/q saar (1.8% y/y) in Q2 2021 from the initially reported 2.3%, following a 4.3% advance in Q1. The Action Economics Forecast Survey had looked for a small upward revision to 2.4% for Q2.
Real nonfarm business output grew at an 8.1% (15.8% y/y) pace in the second estimate for Q2, up from the initially reported 7.9% but down from the 8.4% advance in Q1. The growth of hours worked was revised up to 6.0% (13.7% y/y) from 5.5% in the first estimate. The slightly larger upward revision to hours than to output led to the downward revision in productivity growth. Hourly compensation growth was revised up slightly to 3.4% in the second estimate from 3.3% initially. This combined with the downward revision in productivity to generate an upward revision in unit labor force growth to 1.3% in Q2 from 1.0% initially. The Action Economics Survey showed an expected unit labor costs to have remained at 1.0% in Q2.
By contrast, productivity in the manufacturing sector for Q2 was revised up markedly to 8.0% q/q saar from the initially reported 6.9%. Output was revised significantly stronger, 5.5% vs. 3.8 initially, and the decline in hours worked was revised smaller, -2.3% vs. -2.9% initially. Compensation growth was revised lower, 4.7% vs. 4.9%, resulting in a larger quarterly decline in unit labor costs than initially estimated, -3.0% vs. -1.9%.
Compensation and labor costs figures are available in Haver's USECON database. This latest report includes historical revisions related to recent revisions in Nation Income and Product Accounts and industrial production. The expectations figure is in the AS1REPNA database.
Productivity & Costs (SAAR, %) | Q2'20 | Q1'21 | Q4'20 | Q2'21 Y/Y | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nonfarm Business Sector | |||||||
Output per Hour (Productivity) | 2.1 | 4.3 | -3.4 | 1.8 | 2.4 | 2.0 | 1.5 |
Compensation per Hour | 3.4 | 1.4 | 9.4 | 2.0 | 7.0 | 3.8 | 3.4 |
Unit Labor Costs | 1.3 | -2.8 | 13.3 | 0.2 | 4.5 | 1.8 | 1.9 |
Manufacturing Sector | |||||||
Output per Hour (Productivity) | 8.0 | -0.9 | 3.1 | 7.2 | 0.3 | -1.4 | -0.1 |
Compensation per Hour | 4.7 | 0.6 | 10.5 | 0.6 | 6.8 | 2.8 | 2.2 |
Unit Labor Costs | -3.0 | 1.5 | 7.2 | -6.1 | 6.5 | 4.3 | 2.3 |