Fourth quarter labor costs and productivity

  • Prior unit labor costs +1.8% (revised to 1.9%)
  • Non-farm productivity -3.0% vs -2.0%
  • Prior productivity +2.2% (revised to 2.1%)

There was a wide range of estimates on unit labor costs, from 1.9% to 5.8%. Similarly, productivity was forecast as high as +1.0% and as low as -3.5%.

It's not a great signal when labor costs rise because productivity was weak.