US unit labour cost growth exceeds forecasts in Q1

Workers' productivity in the U.S. slowed more sharply than anticipated at the start of 2024, pushing labour costs much higher.

According to the Department of Labor, in seasonally adjusted terms labour productivity grew at a quarter-on-quarter pace of 0.3% over the three months ending in March (consensus: 0.8%).

That was chiefly the result of an unexpected decline in output growth to 1.3% during the first quarter.

Unit labour costs meanwhile, which are the result of subtracting productivity growth from that of hourly compensation, was left running at a clip of 4.7% during the quarter (consensus: 3.2%).

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