2020.08.1412:43:00UTC+00U.S. Labor Productivity Spikes Much More Than Expected In Q2

Labor productivity in the U.S. soared by much more than expected in the second quarter, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Friday.

The report said labor productivity spiked by 7.3 percent in the second quarter after dipping by a revised 0.3 percent in the first quarter.

Economists had expected labor productivity to jump by 1.5 percent compared to the 0.9 percent decrease that had been reported for the previous quarter.

The much bigger than expected increase in productivity, a measure of output per hour, came as hours worked plummeted by even more than output.

The Labor Department also said unit labor costs skyrocketed by 12.2 percent in the second quarter after surging up by 9.8 percent in the first quarter.

Unit labor costs were expected to spike by 6.2 percent compared to the 5.1 percent surge that had been reported for the previous quarter.