US productivity grows just 2.9%

US worker productivity grew at a 2.9% annual rate from April through June, the smallest gain in almost two years, and labour costs accelerated, a government report showed.

Productivity slowed from a revised 3.7% annual rate in the previous three months, the Labour Department said in Washington. Labour costs rose at a 1.9% annual rate, the most since the second quarter of 2002, after growing 0.3% in the first quarter of this year.