Productivity Falls 1.4%, Biggest Drop in Over a Year

Non-farm labor productivity dropped 1.4% in the second quarter, the largest decline in more than a year, the Labor Department reported today.

The revised figures for the second quarter show American workers produced 5.2% more goods than in the first three months of the year but they worked 6.6% longer hours to do so, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said.

The decrease was the largest since a 1.5% decline in the third quarter of 1986, the bureau said.

The second-quarter decline follows a revised strong 3.4% increase in productivity in the first three months of 1988, the bureau said.