Keeping Track ...
Revised but robust
June 14, 1999
Us worker productivity, a measure of the work force's efficiency, climbed 3.5 percent in the first three months of this year, instead of the 4 percent gain reported by the Labor Department a month ago. Despite the downward revision, it still showed a strong performance as the economy entered its ninth year of expansion.
Separately, the Commerce Department reported retail sales surged 1 percent in May. The sales and productivity gains heightened concern on Wall Street of a possible interest rate hike as the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by nearly 3 percent last week.