A report from the Labor Department says that worker productivity rose by 1.6% between April and June. Productivity between January and March fell by 0.5%. A lower growth of productivity is expected to lead to more hiring, as companies reach the limits of what current employees are able to do. Labor costs rose 1.7%, down from 5.6% in the previous period. Economists say that the changes are a sign that the economy is slowly recovering from the recession.
See "US worker productivity up 1.6 pct. in 2nd quarter", Christopher S. Rugaber, Business Week, August 7, 2012