MW: Productivity revised higher in 2nd half of 2009
By Rex Nutting
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - U.S. nonfarm businesses were more productive in the second half of the year than previously reported, slashing hours by 1.3% even as they boosted their output by 2.5%, the Labor Department reported Thursday. In the fourth quarter, productivity increased at a 6.9% annual rate, revised up from 6.2%. In the third quarter, productivity was revised higher to a 7.8% annual rate from 7.2%. For all of 2009, productivity increased 3.8%, the most in seven years. Unit labor costs fell a revised 5.9% in the fourth quarter and a revised 7.6% in the third quarter, the sharpest drop since 1949. For all of 2009, unit labor costs fell 1.7%, the most since the records were first kept in 1948.
