The productivity of workers dropped from April through June for the second consecutive quarter, leading to an increase in labor costs that may restrain gains in profits.

The measure of employee output per hour fell at a 0.3 percent annual rate in the second quarter after a revised 0.6 percent drop in the previous three months, figures from the Labor Department showed Tuesday. The median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News was a 0.9 percent decrease. Expenses per employee rose 2.2 percent.

With higher labor costs, “profitability will come under pressure,” said Eric Green, chief market economist at TD Securities in New York, who had forecast a decline in productivity. “This would create more caution in expanding payrolls, especially at a time when there is so much uncertainty.”

Image Credit... The New York Times

Economists’ productivity forecasts in the Bloomberg survey ranged from a decrease of 2 percent to a 2.2 percent gain. Efficiency in the first quarter was previously reported as having increased 1.8 percent.