US second-quarter productivity revised higher

US worker productivity grew faster than initially thought in the second quarter, reining in labor costs, suggesting that inflation pressures could continue to subside.

Nonfarm productivity, which measures hourly output per worker, increased at a 2.5 per cent annualized rate last quarter, the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics said on Thursday.

That was an upward revision from the 2.3 per cent pace estimated last month. The upward revision was in line with economists' expectations. Productivity increased at a 0.4 per cent rate in the first quarter. It advanced at an unrevised 2.7 per cent pace from a year ago.

Unit labor costs - the price of labor per single unit of output - rose at a 0.4 per cent rate in the April-June quarter. That was revised down from the previously reported 0.9 per cent pace.

Labor costs increased at a 3.8 per cent the January-March quarter and at a 0.3  per cent rate from a year ago.

The Federal Reserve is expected to start cutting interest rates this month against the backdrop of cooling inflation and labor market conditions.

Compensation rose at a 3.0 per cent rate last quarter, revised down from the previously estimated 3.3 per cent pace. It advanced at a 3.1 per cent rate from a year ago.