Third-quarter productivity revised down to 2.3% (by Jeffry Bartash)

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - The productivity of U.S. workers in the third quarter was revised down to a 2.3% increase from an initial reading of 3.1%, the Labor Department said Wednesday. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had expected productivity to be revised down to 2.5%. A combination of slower output growth and higher hours accounted for the downward revision. The government said real output of goods and services, which adjusts for inflation, rose 3.2% in the third quarter instead of 3.8% as originally estimated. Hours worked, meanwhile, rose 0.8% last quarter instead of an initial reading of 0.6%. Unit-labor costs fell 2.5% instead of 2.4% as initially reported. The MarketWatch survey expected the decline in unit-labor costs to be 2.3%. Hourly wages adjusted for inflation fell 3.2% last quarter, larger than the initial estimate of a 2.4% drop.