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Investing.com - U.S. non-farm productivity fell less than initially expected in the fourth quarter, while unit labor costs were revised lower, official data showed on Wednesday.
In a report, the U.S. Labor Department said non-farm business sector labor productivity decreased by a seasonally adjusted 2.2% in the three months ended December 31, below forecasts for a decline of 3.2% and smaller than an initial estimate of a -3.0% drop.
The report also said that unit labor costs increased by a seasonally adjusted 3.3% in the fourth quarter, lower than expectations for a rise of 4.7% and compared to an initial estimate of a 4.5% gain.
EUR/USD was trading at 1.0903 from around 1.0900 ahead of the release of the data, GBP/USD was at 1.4078 from 1.4075 earlier, while USD/JPY was at 113.81 compared to 113.91 earlier.
The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was at 98.06, compared to 98.08 ahead of the report.
Meanwhile, the outlook for U.S. equity markets was stagnant. The blue-chip Dow futures lost 12 points, or 0.07%, by 13:34 GMT, or 8:34AM ET, the S&P 500 futures shed 2 points, or 0.08%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures traded down 1 point, or 0.02%.
Elsewhere, in the commodities market, gold futures traded at $1,242.90 a troy ounce, compared to $1,243.70 ahead of the data, while crude oil traded at $34.45 a barrel from $34.53 earlier.
This data was published at the same time as the U.S. jobless claims that rose to 4-week high last week.
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.