Productivity and Costs
- Importance (A-F): This release merits a D+.
- Source: The Bureau of Labor Statistics of the Department of Labor.
- Release Time: 8:30 ET around the 7th of the second month of the
quarter (data for quarter prior).
- Raw Data Available At: www.bls.gov
Nonfarm productivity and costs provide measures of the productivity of
workers and the costs associated with producing a unit of output. During times
of inflationary concern, the unit labor cost index in this report can move the
market. If productivity is falling, unit labor costs may be rising faster than
hourly earnings and other labor cost measures. Because productivity can be quite
volatile from one quarter to the next and because the previously released GDP
report will give a good indication of productivity growth, this report seldom
has a significant impact on the market.
In addition to the preliminary report, a revision to the productivity data is
released in the third month of each quarter. As with the preliminary report, the
GDP data released prior to the productivity data provide a clear indication of
the direction of the productivity revision.
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