The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported this week that nonfarm business productivity increased at a 6.6 percent annualized rate in the second quarter, marking the largest productivity increase since the third quarter of 2003.

The rise in productivity was due to a 5.5 annualized decrease in output and a 7.2 percent decrease in work hours, yielding a productivity increase of 1.9 percent year-over-year.

The government also reported that hourly compensation rose by 0.3 percent in the second quarter compared to the first quarter, while real hourly compensation decreased by 1 percent. Unit labor costs saw a 5.9 percent decrease.

For the business sector in particular, productivity saw a quarterly increase of 6.5 percent and a year-over-year increase of 1.9 percent - slightly better than the manufacturing industry, which saw a 4.9 quarterly increase and a year-over-year decrease of 1.4 percent.

The government also reported this week that job loss claims continued last week's decline - the advanced figure for initial job loss claims showed a 4,000 decrease in the week ending August 29, compared to the previous week.