Americans paid more for gasoline, rental accommodation and health care.
Nonfarm payrolls increased by 261,000 jobs last month; however, there's been a surge in labor force dropouts.
Hurricanes made it hard to get a clear picture of the labor market.
But catastrophic storms crimped activity.
The Trump administration is sending mixed messages on its plans regarding the accord.
Hurricane Harvey boosts jobless claims in Texas, but the underlying U.S. trend is still positive.
Anemic productivity is bad news for President Trump who has pledged to boost annual economic growth to 3.0 percent.
But sluggish wage gains still cast a dark shadow over the growth outlook.
U.S. job openings surged to a record high in April and employers appeared to have trouble finding suitable workers.
Orders and employment surged, suggesting some of the oil-related drag on manufacturing was fading.