Worker productivity in the US continued to grow in the first quarter of the year, indicating that companies are getting more out of their employees after laying off thousands of staff. Non-farm productivity, a measure of how much an employee produces for every hour of work, rose a revised 1.9pc in the first quarter, more than the 1.6pc gain first reported for the period. However, productivity in the manufacturing sector was revised down to 1.9pc from the original figure of 2.1pc, the Labour Department said.
The latest figures compare favourably to productivity in the fourth quarter of last year, which improved just 0.7pc. The figures show that a more productive workforce has compensated for massive layoffs across many industries. Those retaining their jobs are working harder during fewer hours. All non-farm output rose by 1.8pc compared to 1.4pc in the previous release for this quarter. The numbers of hours worked were almost unchanged with a drop of just 0.1pc. //www.fxcentre.com