US worker productivity soars in fourth quarter

By Ovunc Kutlu

ANKARA (AA) - Worker productivity in the US soared in the fourth quarter, beating market expectation, according to Labor Department data released Thursday.

Non-farm productivity, which measures the annual change in labor efficiency when producing goods and services but excluding the farming industry, increased 6.6% in the October to December period.

Analysts expected the figure to increase 3.2%.

It is also a significant rebound from a 5% contraction recorded in the third quarter.

Unit labor costs, which measure the annual price change that businesses pay for labor, increased 0.3%.

That figure is closely watched by the Federal Reserve and was expected to increase 1.5% after soaring 9.3% in the third quarter.