Productivity rose at an annual rate of 2.9 percent in the first three months of this year, but was accompanied by the biggest weekly increase in jobless claims in 14 months.
The Labor Department reported Thursday that the January-March increase in productivity was up from an initial estimate last month of a 2.6 percent. This reflected the fact that overall output, the nation’s gross domestic product, was revised up to 3.5 percent from an original estimate of 3.1 percent.
Separately, the Labor Department reported that the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits shot up by 25,000 last week, the biggest weekly increase in 14 months. Labor Department analysts blamed the increase, which pushed total claims to 350,000 last week, on temporary layoffs in the auto industry.
