Washington ? The productivity of U.S. companies grew at its most sluggish pace in a year during the second quarter as the nation’s economic recovery lost momentum.

The Labor Department reported Thursday that productivity the amount of output per hour of work rose at an annual rate of 1.5 percent in the April-June quarter.

While that was a better showing than the 1.1 percent rate estimated a month ago, it marked a slowdown from the brisk 8.6 percent growth rate posted in the first quarter.

Still, the latest reading on second-quarter productivity was stronger than the 1.2 percent growth rate some analysts were forecasting.

And, for the 12 months ending in June, which smooths out quarterly fluctuations, productivity rose by 4.8 percent.

With productivity growth moderating in the second quarter, unit labor costs what a worker is paid for each unit of production rose. Unit labor costs rose at a rate of 2.1 percent in the second quarter, compared with a 4.6 percent rate of decline in the first quarter.