The rise in labor costs indicates that worker pay is finally climbing after a prolonged phase of anemic wage gains. American workers' productivity slipped in the April-June quarter, feeding into a 12 month decline in how much people are producing for each hour worked. Unit labor costs rose 2 percent in the second quarter, after decreasing 0.2 percent in the first quarter. The growth rate is roughly half the already tepid average of the seven-year recovery from the Great Recession. Productivity has been weak for the past five years, a thorny problem since productivity growth is the key factor supporting rising living standards and higher incomes.

Source: Fox News August 09, 2016 12:33 UTC