U.S. Productivity Falls in Fourth Quarter; Labor Costs Rise

U.S. nonfarm productivity slowed more sharply than expected in the fourth quarter, while unit labor costs rebounded after falling in the prior three months. The Labor Department said on Thursday productivity fell at a 1.8 percent annual rate after rising at a revised 3.7 percent pace in the third quarter. Economists had forecast productivity rising at a one half percent pace. Productivity measures hourly output per worker, Productivity was relatively weak for much of last year, increasing 0.8 percent compared to 0.9 percent in 2013. http://yhoo.it/1IbF3KZ http://bit.ly/1fJ5yqZ