Productivity up for second quarter

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WASHINGTON, Aug. 8 (UPI) -- Productivity in the non-farm business sector rose at a 1.6 percent annual rate for the second quarter, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Wednesday.

Preliminary data indicated the rise reflects increases of 2 percent in output and 0.4 percent in hours worked, the Labor Department bureau said in a release.

Unit labor costs in non-farm businesses rose 1.7 percent in the second quarter, while hourly compensation increased 3.3 percent, the bureau said.

Manufacturing sector productivity rose 0.2 percent in the second quarter of 2012, as output grew 1.7 percent and hours worked increased 1.4 percent, the data showed. Unit labor costs in manufacturing rose 0.3 percent.

The bureau said revised first-quarter measures of productivity and costs for the non-financial corporate sector indicated productivity rose 1.2 percent, as output and hours increased 4.7 percent and 3.4 percent, respectively.