Worker productivity surges to fastest pace in years

Recession or expansion, there's one constant in the U.S. economy: Worker productivity continues to increase at an impressive rate.

U.S. second quarter worker productivity surged at an annualized rate of 6.4 percent, with unit labor costs plunging at a 5.8 percent rate, the U.S. Labor Department announced Tuesday, as companies continue to find ways to increase employee output amid challenging business conditions. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg News had expected productivity to increase 5.5 percent in Q2 and unit labor costs to fall 1.8 percent. In Q1, productivity increased 1.6 percent.