U.S. Productivity Report Deprived of Main Gauge After Shutdown
U.S. Productivity Report Deprived of Main Gauge After Shutdown
(Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Labor Department published fresh
productivity data Wednesday, though without the main measure
because of the government shutdown.
The fourth-quarter gauge of nonfarm business productivity and
unit labor cost figures were delayed because they rely on gross
domestic product data from the Commerce Department, which was
closed and hasn’t released GDP for the period.
Wednesday’s report did include a revision for third-quarter
productivity, which rose at a 2.2 percent annualized pace in the
period compared with a previously reported 2.3 percent.
While Labor remained open during the shutdown, some of its
reports incorporate data from other agencies. That means
the nonfarm productivity measure most economists watch can’t be
updated, and the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic
Analysis has yet to announce a new date for the GDP report.
The productivity report did include manufacturing efficiency
figures, which are derived from other data from Labor and the
Federal Reserve. That measure rose 1.3 percent in the fourth
quarter after an upwardly revised 1.1 percent in the prior three
months, according to the report.
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