US sees higher labor costs, more jobless claims

Follow-up - INA

The Bureau of Labor Statistics of the US Department of Labor announced today, Thursday, that it recorded a 2.3% increase in labor costs in the second quarter of the year, while indicating an acceleration in the growth of worker productivity in the United States in the second quarter.

Nonfarm productivity, which measures hourly output per worker, increased at a 2.3 percent annual rate last quarter, after rising at an upwardly revised 0.4 percent pace in the January-March period, the Census Bureau said.

The government reported Wednesday that annual labor costs rose 2.3 percent in the second quarter, and the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits rose to an 11-month high last week, pointing to a tightening labor market, although claims tend to be volatile at this time of year.

The Labor Department said Thursday that initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased 14,000 to a seasonally adjusted 249,000 for the week ended July 27, the highest level since August of last year.