US third-quarter labor costs revised down; productivity weak

The sharp downward revision to labor costs, reported by the Labor Department on Tuesday, could also ease economists' concerns about further pressure on corporate profits.Unit labor costs, the price of labor per single unit of output, increased at a 2.5per cent annualized rate in the third quarter. They were previously reported to have advanced at a 3.6per cent rate. Compared with the third quarter of 2018, labor costs grew at a 2.2per cent rate, rather than the previously estimated 3.

The government reported last month that after-tax profits without inventory valuation and capital consumption adjustment, which corresponds to S&P 500 profits, decreased US$11.3 billion, or at a rate of 0.6per cent in the third quarter. Profits were down at a rate of 0.4per cent compared with the third quarter of 2018.PRODUCTIVITY FALLS

Economists polled by Reuters had expected third-quarter productivity would be revised up to show it falling at a 0.1per cent rate. Productivity grew at an unrevised 2.5per cent rate in the second quarter. The government last month revised up third-quarter gross domestic product growth to a 2.1per cent rate from a 1.9per cent pace.

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