Worker Productivity Plummets , in the United States.<br />CNN reports labor productivity in the <br />United States has continued a downward trend.<br />Per Labor Department data, productivity <br />fell 7.5% in the first quarter of 2022.<br />Such a decline is the starkest in <br />worker output per hour since 1947.<br />Official data also shows that labor costs in the United States rose by 11.6% in the quarter.<br />Refinitiv analysts projected a <br />productivity decline of 5.4% <br />and a rise in labor costs of 9.9%.<br />In the United States currently, the labor market is robust, and competition for employees has driven wages to new heights.<br />Per CNN, in March, <br />11.5 million jobs were available.<br />Also in the same month, <br />4.5 million Americans quit their jobs.<br />Experts say the U.S. economy shrank <br />in the last quarter for the first time since 2020.<br />The decline is linked <br />to supply chain issues <br />brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.<br />When you get by all that, the U.S. economy is growing healthily. , Dana Peterson, chief economist for The Conference Board, via CNN
