P.M. BRIEFING : U.S. Worker Productivity Up 0.2%

The productivity of American workers increased at an annual rate of 0.2% in the second quarter of 1989, a modest improvement from a decline in the first three months of the year, the government reported today.

The Labor Department’s preliminary data for the April-June quarter showed that output in the non-farm sector of the economy rose at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.7%, while total hours worked climbed 1.5%.

The 0.2% gain compared with a 1.3% drop in non-farm productivity in the first quarter.

The data showed hourly compensation paid non-farm workers climbed at an annual rate of 5.5% in the second quarter but continued to lag behind the rate of consumer inflation. In real dollars--wage gains minus the toll of inflation--hourly compensation fell at an annual rate of 0.9% in the April-June period.