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Strategies & Market Trends : Graham and Doddsville -- Value Investing In The New Era -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Boyd Hinds who wrote (1218)	2/9/1999 10:53:00 AM
From: porcupine --''''>	Respond to of 1722

U.S. Productivity Surges Amid Robust Economy WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The productivity of U.S. workers surged at the fastest rate in nearly three years in the final quarter of last year, the government said Tuesday, in the latest sign of the economy's exceptional performance. Productivity, a measure of output per worker hour, climbed 3.7 percent for workers outside the farm sector, the biggest gain since a 4.2 percent increase in the first quarter of 1996, the Labor Department said. It said productivity grew 2.5 in the third quarter, an upward revision from the previously reported gain of 3.0 percent. The department said unit-labor costs, a closely watched gauge of wage inflation, fell by 0.2 percent in the fourth quarter after a gain of 1.4 percent in the third quarter. The report was close to expectations. U.S. economists in a Reuters survey had expected productivity to rise by 3.9 percent in the fourth quarter. Unit-labor costs were seen declining 0.1 percent. The fourth-quarter performance helped make 1998 one of the best years of the decade for productivity growth. Productivity recorded a 2.2 percent rise last year -- almost double the 1.2 percent increase of 1997.