Nonfarm Productivity
Predicted: +1.1%
Actual: -0.1%
Reading from Previous Quarter, Revised: +2.7%
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Unit Labor Costs
Predicted: +0.9%
Actual: +2.0%
Reading from Previous Quarter, Revised: -0.1%
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The yellow-highlighted figures represent the quarter-to-quarter change in non-farm productivity and unit labor costs for the United States.
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| Labor Productivity, Q4 2017 |
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| Unit Labor Costs, Q4 2017 |
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For non-farm productivity, a positive number represents an improvement in the efficiency of producing domestic goods and services in the U.S., and therefore can signify a favorable inflationary outlook, and vice versa.
The Unit Labor Costs report measures the costs related to producing each unit of output. A positive number can be a harbinger of rising inflation, and vice versa.
The "predicted" figure is what economists were expecting, while the "actual" is the true or real figure.