US second quarter unit labour costs revised higher

Unit labour costs in the US grew a bit more quickly than anticipated during the second quarter, revised data showed.

According to the Department of Labor, in seasonally adjusted terms, unit labour costs increased at a quarter-on-quarter pace of 1.3% over the three months to June.

That was higher than the preliminary estimate of 1.0%.

The chief reason for the higher than expected turnout was a downward revision to the estimated rate of labour productivity growth for the quarter, from 2.4% to 1.3%.

Output meanwhile was estimated to have grown at a clip of 8.1%, as hours worked jumped by 6.0% while hourly compensation was up by 3.4%.