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Wednesday, 7 February, 2001, 16:06 GMT
US productivity slows
![]() US workers productivity gains have slowed
The key driving force behind recent US economic expansion has shown signs of waning, according to data from Washington.
Worker productivity, a key measure of labour costs, grew at an annual rate of 2.4% in the final three months of 2000.
That compares with a revised growth rate of 3% in the previous quarter and a near all-time high of 5.3% in the second quarter. Financial analysts, including Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan, have credited such stellar gains in worker productivity for keeping inflation in-check during the recent economic boom in the US. While worker productivity still grew, it dropped below the average 3% growth rate analysts believe will keep the US from a painful recession. In preparing the report, the Labor Department noted that for 2000 as a whole, productivity increased at a rate of 4.3%, the strongest showing since the 4.5% gain in 1983. Inflation fears But the Labor Department also reported unit-labour costs rose at an annual rate of 4.1% in the fourth quarter - higher than analyst estimates and much higher than revised third-quarter costs, which rose 3.2%. Unit labour costs are used as a gauge of inflationary pressures within the economy. For the year, labour costs edged up 0.7%, down from 1999's 1.8% gain.
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