US worker output fell in Q1 by most in a year

U.S. worker productivity fell from January through March by 0.5%

US productivity fell in the second quarter for the for the first time in more than a year, as employers failed to increase the output from already squeezed workers amid slowing economic growth

Paul Walker wonders whether we need macroeconomics at all. He says: “Maybe aggregate economics just doesn't work, we lose too much valuable information in the process.”I agree. Today’s labour market numbers show the point.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Nonfarm productivity fell in the first quarter as companies hired more workers to maintain output, but a moderate rise in wages suggested little pressure on company profits and inflation. Productivity slipped at a 0.5 percent annual rate, the Labor Department said on Thursday, after rising at an upwardly revised 1.2 percent rate in the last three months of 2011. The decline in productivity, which measures hourly output per worker, was in line with expectations. Fourth-quarter productivity had been previously reported to have increased at a 0.9 percent rate. ...

U.S. worker productivity fell by the largest amount in a year from January through March. The steeper drop than first estimated suggests companies may need to hire more to keep pace with demand.

PRODUCTIVITY DOWN: U.S. worker productivity fell at an annual rate of 0.9 percent in the January-March period, the Labor Department said. It was the largest drop in a year and greater than the initial 0.5 percent estimate.