US second-quarter productivity growth unrevised

U.S. worker ​productivity growth picked up ​in the ‌second quarter, ​the government confirmed on Thursday, helping to keep labor costs ‌in check. Nonfarm productivity, which measures hourly output per worker, increased at an unrevised 1.4% annualized rate ‌last quarter the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor ‌Statistics said. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast productivity would be unrevised. Productivity grew at a 0.8% rate in ⁠the ​first quarter.

It grew ⁠at an unrevised 2.2% rate from a year ago. Economists ⁠and policymakers expect the rapid adoption of artificial ​intelligence by businesses will boost productivity and restrain inflation ⁠through a reduction in labor costs. Unit labor costs — ⁠the ​price of labor per single unit of output — increased at a downwardly revised 1.2% ⁠rate. They were previously estimated to have risen at ⁠a ⁠1.3% pace. Labor costs grew at an unrevised 1.4% rate from a year ‌ago.