Productivity Climbs Slightly as Unit Labor Cost Goes Down

After six months of decline, the nation’s efficiency in producing goods and services improved slightly during the first quarter of 1987, but not as much as previously thought, the government said today.

Non-farm business productivity rose at an annual rate of 0.5% in January, February and March as the biggest decrease in inflation-adjusted hourly wages since 1951 dropped unit labor costs for the first time in a year, the Labor Department said.

Revising preliminary figures, the department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics said non-farm businesses that account for three-fourths of the nation’s gross national product increased their output by 4.3% in the first quarter while the hours worked to achieve it rose only 3.8%.