NEW YORK TIMES: Productivity at nonfarm businesses rebounded strongly in the second quarter, giving the Federal Reserve room to keep interest rates low for a while.
The Labor Department said on Friday that productivity increased at a 2.5 percent annual rate after contracting at a revised 4.5 percent pace in the first quarter. The first quarter’s drop was the sharpest since the fourth quarter of 1981.
The rebound kept in check labor-related production costs that had surged at the start of the year as an unusually cold winter depressed output… (more)
