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Economic Data Brief |
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Labor market
Productivity and Costs — Q1 2026
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| Nonfarm business labour productivity rose 0.1% in Q1 2026 to 119.4, +2.8% from a year ago. Prior quarter: 119.3. Prior periods were revised in 10 series — figures below reflect that. | |
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Productivity
119.4
▲ +0.1% m/m
· +2.8% y/y
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Unit labour costs
123.8
▲ +0.5% m/m
· +0.5% y/y
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Hourly comp
147.8
▲ +0.5% m/m
· +3.3% y/y
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| Hold — data may be stale. The newest data available is Q1 2026, but the release calendar says Q2 2026 should be out by now. The agency may have slipped, or the source has not ingested it yet — this report covers Q1 2026. |
Revision check| REVISIONS DETECTED (10) — since first published. Every change below is calculated on the revised figures. | | Hourly compensation · Q3 2025 | 143.5 | → | 145.7 | ▲ +2.2 | | Nonfarm business labour productivity · Q2 2025 | 115.9 | → | 117.4 | ▲ +1.5 | | Unit labour costs · Q2 2025 | 123.6 | → | 122.3 | ▼ −1.4 | | Hours worked · Q2 2025 | 106.5 | → | 105.6 | ▼ −0.8 | | Nonfarm business labour productivity · Q3 2025 | 118.0 | → | 118.9 | ▲ +0.9 | | Hours worked · Q3 2025 | 106.5 | → | 105.7 | ▼ −0.8 | | Unit labour costs · Q3 2025 | 121.6 | → | 122.6 | ▲ +0.9 | | Unit labour costs · Q4 2025 | 122.6 | → | 123.2 | ▲ +0.7 | | Hourly compensation · Q4 2025 | 146.6 | → | 147.1 | ▲ +0.4 | | Nonfarm business labour productivity · Q4 2025 | 119.6 | → | 119.3 | ▼ −0.3 |
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Key figures| Headline → | Q1 2026 | Q4 2025 | M/M chg | M/M % | Y/Y chg | Y/Y % | 12-period trend |
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| Nonfarm business labour productivityREVISED output per hour, 2017=100, SA | 119.4 | 119.3 | ▲ +0.1 | ▲ +0.1% | ▲ +3.2 | ▲ +2.8% | | | Unit labour costsREVISED the inflation-relevant one — what a unit of output costs in wages | 123.8 | 123.2 | ▲ +0.6 | ▲ +0.5% | ▲ +0.6 | ▲ +0.5% | | | Hourly compensationREVISED | 147.8 | 147.1 | ▲ +0.8 | ▲ +0.5% | ▲ +4.7 | ▲ +3.3% | | | Hours workedREVISED | 105.8 | 105.6 | ▲ +0.2 | ▲ +0.2% | ▲ +0.4 | ▲ +0.4% | | | Trend bars show year-over-year % change over the last 13 periods; the latest period is highlighted. |
What stood out- Unit labour costs: up 0.5% from a year ago — the slowest pace since Q3 2019.
- Hourly compensation: up 3.3% from a year ago — the slowest pace since Q1 2023.
- Hours worked: up 0.4% from a year ago — the fastest pace since Q3 2023.
- Nonfarm business labour productivity: up 2.8% from a year ago — the fastest pace since Q3 2024.
Sources |
Economic Impact Group, LLC
Economic research for developing communities
Prepared 2026-08-03 15:58 UTC. Green marks an
increase, red a decrease — direction only, not good or bad.
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