U.S. Productivity Rate Adjusted Downward

U.S. workers’ productivity rose at a 2.8% annual rate in the first quarter, lower than originally reported, the Labor Department said Thursday.

First-quarter productivity was originally reported at a 3.6% annual rate.

Productivity is a measure of how much an employee produces for every hour of work.

Productivity rose 6.1% in the past 12 months, the biggest such gain since 2002, Labor said.

The first-quarter level was below than economists’ forecasts of a 3.4% annual rate, Bloomberg reported.

Among manufacturers, productivity rose at a 1.5% annual rate, below the 2.5% originally reported.

When worker efficiency improves at a slower pace and labor becomes more expensive, companies may raise prices in order to guard their profits, contributing to more rapid inflation.