1Q2021 Preliminary Headline Productivity Improves A simple summary of the headlines for this release is that labor costs growth declined on a quarter-over-quarter basis whilst productivity improved. Analyst Opinion of Productivity and Costs The overall view this quarter is that nonfarm productivity is up 4.1 % from the same quarter one year ago while unit costs are up 1.6 %. Please note my productivity analysis at the end of this post which is at odds with the headline view. Doing a productivity analysis during a major recession or recovery period is a waste of time as productivity is obscured by government interventions. The market was expecting from Econoday: