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The Labor Department said on Tuesday that productivity, which measures hourly output per worker, dropped at a 0.5 percent annual rate in the April-June period. It was the third consecutive quarterly decline.
Productivity fell at an unrevised 0.6 percent rate in the first quarter. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast productivity rising at a 0.4 percent rate in the second quarter.
Productivity decreased at a 0.4 percent rate compared to the second quarter of 2015, the fastest pace of decline in three years. Revisions to data going back to 2013 also confirmed the softening productivity trend, which over time would suggest pressure on corporate profits and a slowdown in job gains.”