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.S. workers’ productivity grew at a 2.9% annual rate in the first quarter, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

The latest reading was higher than a 2.3% fourth-quarter growth rate and exceeded economists’ expectations of a 3% gain, Bloomberg reported.

Productivity is a measure of how much an employee produces for every hour of work.

Labor costs, the amount paid for each unit of production, rose at a 3.3% annual rate following a 7.7% fourth-quarter gain. It was the fourth straight increase.

Productivity gains have exceeded 4% in each of the past three years, Bloomberg reported.