US labor costs increased in the first quarter by the most in a year as productivity gains slowed, potentially adding to risks inflation will remain elevated. Unit labor costs, or what a business pays employees to produce one unit of output after taking into account changes in productivity, climbed at a 4.7% annual rate. That marked a notable jump after muted gains in the second half of 2023. Productivity, or nonfarm employee output per hour, rose at a 0.3% annualized rate after an upwardly revised 3.5% gain in the prior period, data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed Thursday. The median forecast in a ... (full story)