US productivity falls by most in a year

WASHINGTON — US worker productivity declined in the first quarter by the most in a year as growth in the world’s largest economy weakened, a Labour Department report showed on Thursday.

The measure of employee output per hour decreased at a 0,6% annual rate (forecast was a 0,1% decline) after a revised 1,8% gain in the prior three months.

Expenses per worker rose at a 3% pace (forecast was 2,7% increase) after a revised 1,3% gain.

The results reflect the first-quarter slowdown in the economy, which grew at the slowest pace in three years while the job market remained solid.

The report underscores the challenge of achieving a sustained acceleration in productivity, which has been elusive through most of this expansion.

As wages remained weak in recent years, businesses relied on new hires

service using the range of numbers that can be matched to suit customer requirements and moves at 20 megabytes per second.

It is cost effective hence packaged with a one-time purchase of a home Wi-Fi device that costs $130 and has five tariffs at $9 for 6GB, $19 for 15GB, $39 for 36GB, $59 for 57GB and the extreme at $99 for 107GB.

“This product is a response to the feedback from our valued customers who had been inconvenienced by being customers of NetOne during the day and shifting to other service providers at night because we did not meet fibre requirements hence this new dispensation,” Mr Mutandiro said.

“We are aware that once we launch this product, the demand for high speed rather than more investment in efficiency-boosting technology, though that trend may change eventually as weak productivity erodes profits.

Productivity rose 1,1% from the first quarter of 2016; unit labour costs, which are adjusted for changes in efficiency, were up 2,8% from a year earlier.

Adjusted for inflation, hourly compensation fell at a 0,8% rate last quarter, after no change in the fourth quarter. Output rose at a 1% rate,

broadband connectivity will continue to rise exponentially hence we will continue monitoring the traffic to enable us to sustainably optimise our network and invest in strategies that densify our LTE network for greater capacity and as proactive measure we are engaging the regulator for more spectrum.”

Mr Mutandiro noted that, “It was just a bit embarrassing that at the beginning of this year we ran out of sim cards, showing the extent to which the market is feeling the impact positively and responding.”

NetOne acting chief operating officer Clever Isaya previously said their customers were being overcharged by other players and the company was taking a lead in making data affordable. — New Ziana following a 2,7% gain in the fourth quarter. Hours worked increased at a 1,6% pace, after a 1% advance; compensation for each hour worked rose at a 2,4% annual pace.

Latest drop in productivity compares with an average annual gain of 0,6% from 2012 through last year.

Among manufacturers, productivity rose at a 0,4% rate in the first quarter after a 2% gain.