Como se combate o populismo? "Com eleições", responde Fukuyama

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8:30am 11/03/05 U.S. Q2 PRODUCTIVITY REVISED TO UP 2.1% FROM 1.8% PREV
8:30am 11/03/05 U.S. Q3 PRODUCTIVITY RISES 4.1% VS. 2.6% EXPECTED
8:30am 11/03/05 U.S. Q3 UNIT LABOR COSTS DOWN 0.5%, UP 2.7% YR-ON-YR

8:30am 11/03/05 U.S. CONTINUING JOBLESS CLAIMS DOWN 44,000 TO 2.82 MLN
8:30am 11/03/05 U.S. 4-WEEK AVG. JOBLESS CLAIMS DOWN 17,000 TO 350,500
8:30am 11/03/05 U.S. JOBLESS CLAIMS FALL TO LOWEST LEVELS SINCE KATRINA
8:30am 11/03/05 U.S. WEEKLY JOBLESS CLAIMS DOWN 8,000 TO 323,000


ECONOMIC REPORT: U.S. productivity accelerates to 4.1%; Unit labor costs fall 0.5% in third quarter
By Greg Robb, MarketWatch
Last Update: 8:35 AM ET Nov. 3, 2005

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - Productivity in the American workplace accelerated in the third quarter, rising at a 4.1% annual rate, the Labor Department estimated Thursday.

Unit labor costs - a key measure of inflationary pressures from compensation - fell 0.5% annualized, the biggest decline since the second quarter of last year.

Economists were expecting a 2.6% gain in productivity in the July-September quarter, according to a survey conducted by Marketwatch.

Productivity is measured by units of output per hour worked. It's an essential factor in long-term economic health, but is extremely difficult to measure in the short-run.

In the third quarter, output increased 4.2% while hours worked rose only 0.1%, the government agency said.

Real hourly compensation (adjusted for inflation) fell 1.4%, the biggest decline since the fourth quarter of 2002.

In the manufacturing sector, productivity increased 4.5% while unit labor costs fell 1.6%.

Productivity has increased 3.0% in the past four quarters, the largest year-over-year increase since the second quarter of 2004. Unit labor costs have risen 2.7% in the past year.



ECONOMIC REPORT: Jobless claims fall to pre-Katrina levels; Claims fall 8,000 to 323,000 in latest week
By Greg Robb, MarketWatch
Last Update: 8:38 AM ET Nov. 3, 2005

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - First-time claims for state unemployment benefits fell to levels not seen since Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast in late August.

Initial jobless claims fell 8,000 to 323,000 in the week ended Oct. 29, the Labor Department said Thursday.

This is the lowest level of claims since the week ended August 27, just before Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast.

The latest initial claims were lower than the 329,000 predicted by economists surveyed by MarketWatch.

Claims in the previous week were revised to a decrease of 26,000 to 331,000 compared with the initial estimate of a fall of 28,000 to 328,000.

The impact of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita is steadily declining.

A Labor Department official said only 18,000 of the claims this week were related to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, down from 24,000 in the previous week.

A total of 520,000 claims have been filed since the deadly storms struck the Gulf Coast in August and September.

The department said 1,400 claims were filed in the latest week as a result of Hurricane Wilma, which struck south Florida on October 24.

In the latest week, the four-week average of initial claims fell 17,000 to 350,500. This is the lowest level since Sept. 10.

Meanwhile, the number of Americans receiving state jobless benefits fell a sharp 44,000 to 2.82 million in the week ending Oct. 22. This is the lowest level since the week ended Sept. 17. The four-week moving average of continuing claims fell 11,750 to 2.85 million.

The insured unemployment rate, representing the proportion of eligible workers who are receiving benefits, held steady at 2.2% for the week ended Oct. 22 from the previous week.

In a separate report, the government said productivity rose 4.1% in the third quarter.