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WASHINGTON (AP) - The productivity of American workers slowed sharply in the first three months of this year but wage pressures eased as well, providing evidence that inflation is being restrained.
The Labor Department reported that the amount of output per hour of work for nonfarm businesses rose at annual rate of 1 percent in the January-March quarter. That was the slowest advance since the third quarter of last year and was below the government's initial estimate that productivity rose at a 1.7 percent rate in the first quarter.
Labor costs rose at an annual rate of 1.8 percent. That was up from an initial estimate of 0.6 percent growth in unit labor costs but was still lower than the 8.9 percent surge reported in the final three months of last year.
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