First-Quarter Productivity Rises 2.6%

.S. workers’ productivity grew at a 2.6% annual rate in the first quarter, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

The latest reading compared with a 2.1% fourth-quarter growth rate and exceeded economists’ expectations of a 1.8% gain, Bloomberg reported.

Productivity is a measure of how much an employee produces for every hour of work.

abor costs, the amount paid for each unit of production, rose at a 2.2% annual rate following a 1.3% fourth-quarter gain. It was the fourth straight rise.

Productivity gains have exceeded 4% in each of the past three years, Bloomberg reported.