Washington • Workers were more efficient in the final three months of last year, although their gains in productivity slowed from the previous quarter. Slower productivity growth can be a good sign for hiring if economic growth picks up.
The Labor Department said Thursday that worker productivity rose at a 0.7 percent annual rate in the October-December quarter. That’s below a downwardly revised 1.9 percent in the previous quarter.
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Labor costs rose 1.2 percent in the final three months of last year, as wages and salaries grew at a faster pace than productivity. Still, inflation-adjusted wages fell 1.2 percent in 2011, the steepest annual drop since 1989.
Productivity is the amount of output per hour of work. A slowdown in productivity is bad for corporate profits. But it can be good for hiring if it signals companies are not able to squeeze more work out of their existing staffs.
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