U.S. third-quarter productivity fastest in three years

[November 02, 2017]  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. worker productivity increased at its fastest pace in three years in the third quarter, holding down labor costs, but the trend in productivity growth remained moderate.

Construction workers build a single family home in San Diego, California, U.S. on February 15, 2017. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo

The Labor Department said on Thursday that nonfarm

productivity, which measures hourly output per worker, rose at a

3.0 percent annualized rate. That was the quickest pace since the third quarter of 2014. Growth in second-quarter productivity was unrevised at a 1.5 percent rate.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast productivity rising at a 2.4 percent pace in the July-September quarter.

(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

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