US Q4 labor productivity falls a bit less than expected

US labor productivity fell by less than expected at the end of 2020, helping to douse labour cost growth.

According to the US Department of Labor, in seasonally adjusted terms non-farm labour productivity fell at a quarterly annualised pace of 4.2% over the three months to December (consensus: -4.8%).

That helped to limit the rise in unit labor costs to 6.0% (consensus: 6.8%).

Versus a year ago, productivity strengthened by 2.4% and labour costs by 4.2%.