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Empresas y finanzas

Nonfarm productivity falls more than expected


    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Nonfarm productivity fell more than expected in the first quarter as companies gave more hours to employees but only modestly expanded output, revised data from Labor Department showed on Wednesday.

    Productivity slipped at a 0.9 percent annual rate, a sharper decline than the 0.5 percent initially reported by the government.

    Analysts polled by Reuters had expected productivity to decline at a 0.7 percent rate during the period.

    Productivity grew rapidly as the economy emerged from the 2007-09 recession. The gains were driven by companies' cutting costs, particularly for labor.

    But businesses might be finding it hard to squeeze more output from the existing pool of labor, and productivity has declined in three of the last five quarters.

    Some Federal Reserve officials, including Chairman Ben Bernanke believe companies drastically cut their workforces and are now seeking an alignment with the expected demand for their products.

    In the first quarter, the productivity report showed output rose at a 2.4 percent annual rate and hours worked climbed at a 3.3 percent rate. Unit labor costs grew at a 1.3 percent rate.

    (Reporting by Jason Lange; Editing by Neil Stempleman)