Washington, DC, June 1, 2006--Productivity rose at an annual rate of 3.7% in the first quarter, stronger than the 3.2% gain reported earlier, the Labor Department said Thursday.
Unit labor costs--a key gauge of inflationary pressures stemming from wages--were revised lower to a 1.6% annualized gain from 2.5% reported earlier.
Economists were expecting productivity to be revised a bit higher, to about 4%. But unit labor costs came in lower than the 1.8% expected by economists.
There were also big revisions to unit labor costs in the fourth quarter that show a much more benign inflation climate. Unit labor costs fell 0.6% in the fourth quarter, rather than rising by 3%.
