U.S. Productivity Growth Slowed in Q1 2026
by:Sandy Batten
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
- Output per hour growth slowed to 0.8% q/q saar in Q1 from 1.6%.
- However, longer-term productivity growth remained solidly well above trend.
- Compensation growth slowed to 3.1% q/q resulting in a slowdown in unit labor cost growth to 2.3% from 4.6% in Q4.
Nonfarm business productivity (output per hour) slowed more than expected in Q1 to 0.8% q/q saar from a downwardly revised 1.6% in last year’s fourth quarter (previously 1.8%). The Action Economics Forecast Survey expected a 1.6% quarterly increase in productivity. Compared to a year ago, productivity rose 2.9% y/y in Q1, up from 2.5% in Q4. Since productivity growth began to accelerate at the beginning of 2023, it has grown at a well above trend 2.6% annual rate, likely a reflection of AI and other technology advances. Strong productivity is a key factor for boosting real incomes and restraining inflation pressures.
Nonfarm business output (not quite the same as real GDP) increased 1.5% q/q saar in Q1 versus a downwardly revised 1.3% in Q4 (previously 1.5%). By contrast, real GDP grew 2.0% q/q in Q1. Hours worked rebounded in Q1, rising 0.7% after falling an unrevised 0.2% in Q4. Compensation growth slowed to 3.1% in Q1 from an unrevised 6.3% in Q4. Compared to a year ago, compensation growth slowed to 4.2% y/y from 5.0%. On a quarterly basis, compensation growth slowed much more than did productivity growth. Consequently, growth of unit labor costs slowed markedly to 2.3% q/q in Q1 from 4.6% in Q4. The y/y rate of advance for unit labor costs also slowed, to 1.2% y/y, its slowest annual pace since Q3 2023, from 2.4% in Q4.
Manufacturing productivity rebounded in Q1, jumping 3.6% q/q saar following a downwardly revised 3.2% quarterly decline in Q4 (previously -2.5%). Factory output increased 3.3% q/q in Q1 following a downwardly revised 3.4% quarterly decline in Q4 (previously -2.8%). Hours worked fell 0.4% q/q in Q1, the seventh consecutive quarterly decline. Factory compensation remained elevated but slowed to 6.1% in Q1 from an unrevised 6.3% in Q4. With the rebound in productivity growth and the slowdown in compensation growth, unit labor cost growth slowed markedly to 2.4% q/q in Q1 from an upwardly revised 9.8% in Q4 (previously 9.1%). However, the y/y pace of unit labor cost growth increased further to 3.7% y/y in Q1 from 3.1% in Q4 and 1.4% in Q3.
The productivity and labor cost data are available in Haver’s USECON database. The Action Economics expectations figures are in the AS1REPNA database.
Sandy Batten
AuthorMore in Author Profile »Sandy Batten has more than 30 years of experience analyzing industrial economies and financial markets and a wide range of experience across the financial services sector, government, and academia. Before joining Haver Analytics, Sandy was a Vice President and Senior Economist at Citibank; Senior Credit Market Analyst at CDC Investment Management, Managing Director at Bear Stearns, and Executive Director at JPMorgan. In 2008, Sandy was named the most accurate US forecaster by the National Association for Business Economics. He is a member of the New York Forecasters Club, NABE, and the American Economic Association. Prior to his time in the financial services sector, Sandy was a Research Officer at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, Senior Staff Economist on the President’s Council of Economic Advisors, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Economic Policy at the US Treasury, and Economist at the International Monetary Fund. Sandy has taught economics at St. Louis University, Denison University, and Muskingun College. He has published numerous peer-reviewed articles in a wide range of academic publications. He has a B.A. in economics from the University of Richmond and a M.A. and Ph.D. in economics from The Ohio State University.
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