A report released by the Labor Department on Thursday showed U.S. labor productivity surged by more than expected in the fourth quarter of 2022.
The Labor Department said labor productivity spiked by 3.0 percent in the fourth quarter after jumping by an upwardly revised 1.4 percent in the third quarter.
Economists had expected labor productivity to shoot up by 2.4 percent compared to the 0.8 percent increase that had been reported for the previous quarter.
The stronger than expected productivity growth came as output surged by 3.0 percent, while hours worked rose by 0.5 percent. Productivity is a measure of output per hour.
The report also showed unit labor costs jumped by 1.1 percent in the fourth quarter after surging by a downwardly revised 2.0 percent in the third quarter.
Unit labor costs were expected leap by 1.5 percent compared to the 2.4 percent spike that had been reported for the previous quarter.
The slowdown in unit labor cost growth came as a 4.1 percent surge in hourly compensation was partly offset by the jump in productivity.
Real hourly compensation, which takes changes in consumer prices into account, increased by 1.0 percent in the fourth quarter after tumbling by 2.2 percent in the third quarter.
