Full text of U.S. Financial Data : December 9, 1999

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December 9, 1999

USFinancialData
THE WEEK’S HIGHLIGHTS:
■ Output per hour (productivity) in the private nonfarm business
sector accelerated at a revised 4.9 percent annual rate during the
third quarter, the largest increase since the fourth quarter of 1992.
But with labor compensation growing at a 4.7 percent rate, unit
labor costs, which is a productivity-adjusted measure of compensation
costs, fell at a 0.2 percent rate during the third quarter—the first
decline in nine quarters. Measured from a year earlier, nonfarm
labor productivity has increased 3.1 percent, while unit labor
costs have grown 1.5 percent.
■ Nonfarm payroll employment increased 234,000 in November, or
2.2 percent at an annual rate. Year-to-date, however, nonfarm job
gains have averaged 214,500 a month, roughly 20,000 a month
less than the same period in 1998. The civilian unemployment
rate in November remained unchanged at 4.1 percent.
■ Prices of U.S. imports, which are not seasonally adjusted, rose
0.5 percent in November. Although prices of petroleum imports
rose at its slowest pace in five months, 1.9 percent, prices of
nonpetroleum imports registered its largest gain since September
1996, 0.3 percent. Measured from a year earlier, total import
prices have increased 5.5 percent, while nonpetroleum prices
are down 0.2 percent.
■ For the week ending Dec. 4, the four-week moving average of initial
claims for state unemployment insurance benefits totaled 286,750,
a 10.6 percent decline from a year earlier.
All data are seasonally adjusted unless otherwise indicated.
U.S. Financial Data is published weekly by the Research Division of the Federal Reserve Bank of
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Information in this publication is also included in the Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED) electronic
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