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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Saturday, August 10, 2002

US Productivity Growth Slows Sharply in 2nd Quarter

Productivity in the United States grew at an annual rate of 1.1 percent in the second quarter,the most sluggish pace in a year, the Labor Department reported Friday in Washington.


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Productivity in the United States grew at an annual rate of 1.1 percent in the second quarter,the most sluggish pace in a year, the Labor Department reported Friday in Washington.

It was a sign that the US economic recovery has lost considerable momentum from the beginning of the year.

The US productivity -- the amount of output per hour of work --soared at an annual rate of 8.6 percent in the first quarter, the strongest showing since the spring of 1983.

The 1.1 percent growth rate marked the weakest performance since the second quarter of 2001 when productivity actually dippedby 0.1 percent.

The report said that the output grew at a rate of just 0.5 percent in the second quarter and businesses reduce workers' hoursat a rate of 0.7 percent.

The moderation in productivity put more pressure on unit labor costs in the second quarter. The labor costs increased at a rate of 2.4 percent in the quarter following a decline of 4.6 percent in the first quarter. It was the fastest increase since the first quarter of 2001.

Analysts were forecasting a slowdown in productivity gains in the second quarter because the US economic recovery also was losing steam at the time. The US economy grew at an annual rate ofjust 1.1 percent in the second quarter, down from a brisk 5 percent increase in the first quarter.


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