US workers’ productivity jumps 3 percent in third quarter

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. workers’ productivity jumped 3 percent in the third quarter, the strongest gain in three years, while labor costs remained moderate.
The increase in productivity in the July-September quarter was double the 1.5 percent gain in the second quarter, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Unit labor costs rose a modest 0.5 percent in the third quarter, up only slightly from a 0.3 percent gain in the second quarter.
The strong upturn in productivity, the amount of