US Productivity Declines More Than Forecast, Labor Costs Climb

US worker productivity declined in the first quarter by more than forecast and labor costs accelerated, underscoring a challenging inflation fight for the Federal Reserve.

Productivity, or nonfarm business employee output per hour, decreased at a 2.7% annual rate in the first quarter, according to figures out Thursday from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That was the first drop in three quarters and compared to a 1.6% advance in the final three months of 2022.

Unit labor costs, or what a business pays to produce one unit of output, increased at a 6.3% rate after rising 3.3% in ...