US Productivity Improved At Ho-hum 1.5 Pct. Rate In Spring

WASHINGTON (AP) - U.S. workers' productivity rose a bit more this spring than initially reported, but the gains were relatively weak and a key reason why recent economic growth has been modest. The Labor Department says productivity grew at a revised annual rate of 1.5 percent in the April-June quarter. That's up from an initial estimate of a 0.9 percent increase and comes after a slight 0.1 percent rate of increase in the first quarter. Labor costs increased at just a rate of just 0.2 percent in the second quarter, a major drop-off from a 4.8 percent growth rate in the first quarter. Productivity, the amount of output per hour of work, has been weak throughout the nine-year recovery. Many economists say this has stifled pay raises and broader economic growth. In this Thursday, July 20, 2017, photo, a worker on a suspended scaffold works on the electronic Coca Cola billboard in New York's Times Square. On Thursday, Sept. 7, 2017, the Labor Department issues revised data on productivity in the second quarter. Here is more information about du an High Intela look into the site. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)