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    Market Data

    November 7, 2018

    SMU Labor Analysis: Productivity Improves in Q3

    Written by Peter Wright

    Labor productivity grew by 0.5 percent in the third quarter of 2018. The average of the last three quarters has been 0.3 percent. Unit labor costs increased 1.2 percent year over year, according to Steel Market Update’s latest analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data.

    Unit labor costs and productivity changes are reported quarterly by the BLS and results for Q3 2018 were released last week. All quarterly percent changes in this release are seasonally adjusted annual rates. This basic information is useful to better understand the steel market. One way of looking at GDP is that it is the growth of the working age population multiplied by their productivity. Steel consumption is correlated with the growth of GDP.

    Peter Wright

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