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Strategies & Market Trends : Making Money is Main Objective

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To: Softechie who started this subject	2/7/2001 11:38:17 AM
From: Softechie	Read Replies (1) of 2155

Productivity Growth Slows But Is Stronger Than Expected A WSJ.COM News Roundup WASHINGTON -- Productivity, a key measure of rising living standards, slowed to a 2.4% rate of growth in the last three months of 2000, reflecting a cooling economy. See the full text of the Labor Department's report on fourth-quarter productivity. See Briefing.com for more information about the productivity report. The growth in nonfarm business productivity -- the amount of output per hour of work -- was still a healthy gain and much better than economists expected. Economists surveyed by Thomson Global Markets estimated fourth-quarter productivity would grow by only 1.5%. However, the 2.4% rise was the slowest since a 2.1% rate in the first quarter of 2000. On a year-over-year basis, productivity increased at a rate of 3.4%. Productivity in the third quarter was revised down to show a 3% jump from a previously reported 3.8% increase. Unit labor costs, a key gauge of inflation pressures, rose at a rate of 4.1%, up from a 3.2% rate in the previous quarter. The rise in fourth-quarter labor costs was the biggest since a 4.3% rate of increase in the second quarter of 1999. Economists had expected labor costs would increase at only a 3.5% rate. Hourly compensation rose 3.8% after adjusting for inflation, after rising 3.1% in the third quarter. Hours worked declined 1.1% in the fourth quarter, after a 0.7% drop during the previous three months. Wages have grown only modestly in recent months, although the unemployment rate has hovered around near a 30-year low at 4.1%. The Labor Department's latest employment report showed no increase in average hourly earnings. Wednesday's numbers reflect preliminary data and will be revised on March 6.

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