May 09, 2001 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)
Nonfarm business unit labor costs up again
Unit labor costs rose 5.2 percent in the first quarter, after rising 4.5 percent in the fourth quarter of 2000. The first quarter increase was the largest since the fourth quarter of 1997.
[Chart data—TXT]
Hourly compensation increased at a 5.2 percent annual rate in the first quarter of 2001. When the rise in consumer prices was taken into account, real hourly compensation rose 1.0 percent.
Productivity declined 0.1 percent in the nonfarm business sector in the first quarter, as output increased 1.9 percent and hours of all persons rose 2.0 percent. During the fourth quarter of 2000, productivity had increased 2.0 percent in this sector.
These data are a product of the BLS Quarterly
Labor Productivityprogram. Data are subject to revision. Additional
information is available in "Productivity
and Costs, First-Quarter and Annual Averages for 2001, Preliminary"
news release USDL 01-132.
Of interest
Spotlight on Statistics: National Hispanic Heritage Month
In this Spotlight, we take a look at the Hispanic labor force—including labor force participation, employment and unemployment, educational attainment, geographic location, country of birth, earnings, consumer expenditures, time use, workplace injuries, and employment projections.
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