Investing.com - U.S. non-farm productivity fell unexpectedly in the fourth quarter, while unit labor costs came in above forecasts, official preliminary data showed on Thursday.
In a report, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said non-farm business sector labor productivity decreased by a seasonally adjusted 1.8% in the final three months of 2014, disappointing expectations for a gain of 0.5%.
The preceding quarter’s figure was revised to a 3.7% gain from a previously reported increase of 2.3%.
The report also said unit labor costs rose by a seasonally adjusted 2.7% in the fourth quarter, compared to expectations for a 1.0% increase, after dropping 2.3% in the third quarter.
EUR/USD was trading at 1.1414 from around 1.1402 ahead of the release of the data, while GBP/USD was at 1.5290 from 1.5269 earlier, while USD/JPY was at 117.46 from 117.52 earlier.
The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was at 94.10, compared to 94.18 ahead of the report.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock futures pointed to a higher open. The Dow futures pointed to a gain of 0.55% at the open, the S&P 500 futures rose 0.65%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures tacked on 0.45%.
Elsewhere, in the commodities market, gold futures traded at $1,262.40 a troy ounce, compared to $1,263.90 ahead of the data, while crude oil traded at $49.50 a barrel from $44.56 earlier.