U.S. productivity slouched ahead at a mere 0.3 percent annual pace in the first quarter, a bit step down from the 3.5 percent pace in the final three months of 2023, the Department of Labor said Thursday.

Over the past four quarters, U.S. productivity has increased 2.9 percent.

Productivity is a measure of economic performance that compares the amount of goods and services produced with the amount of inputs used to produce those goods and services.

Unit labor costs, a key measure of wage inflation, rose 4.7 percent in the first quarter of 2024. That figure is derived by subtracting the 0.3 percent productivity gain from the 5.0-percent increase in hourly compensation in the quarter

Over the past 12 months, unit labor costs have risen 1.8 percent.