Third-Quarter Productivity Jumps 4.9%

U.S. worker productivity rose at an annual rate of 4.9% in the third quarter, the most in four years, the Labor Department said Wednesday.

The level topped economists’ estimates of 3.2% third-quarter growth and a revised 2.2% second-quarter gain, Bloomberg reported.

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

When worker efficiency improves at a slower pace and labor becomes more expensive, companies may raise prices in order to guard their profits, contributing to more rapid inflation.