Non-farm productivity data revised higher

Productivity in the non-farm business sector rose at a 2.2 percent annual rate for the second quarter, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Wednesday. The figure, revised from an earlier estimate of 1.6 percent, reflects 2.4 percent growth in output and 0.1 percent growth in hours worked. Both of these figures are also revisions. The previous report put output growth at 2 percent and hours worked growth at 0.4 percent. The department revised its unit labor costs estimate for non-farm businesses to 1.5 percent in the second quarter, down from a previous estimate of 1.7 percent. Hourly compensation, at the same time, was revised to show an increase of 3.7 percent, up from the 3.3 percent estimate released in early August. Manufacturing sector productivity rose 0.1 percent in the second quarter of 2012 (not 0.2 percent), as output grew 1.5 percent (rather than 1.7 percent) and hours worked increased an unchanged 1.4 percent, the data showed. Unit labor costs in manufacturing rose 0.8 percent, a sharp increase from the 0.3 percent estimate released Aug. 8.