Worker productivity increased for the quarter from July to September, according to a Labor Department report released on Wednesday. Productivity, which is the key ingredient for rising living standards, rose at an annual rate of 1.3 percent in for the three-month quarter. The current rate is down from the 3.6 percent growth rate in the second quarter, but slightly higher than the 1.1 percent increase initially reported a month ago and better than the 0.9 percent rise economists expected. Wage pressures, as measured by unit labor costs, rose at an annual rate of 2.8 percent, after having declined at a 2.6 percent rate in the second quarter. The rate of increase in the third quarter was the biggest jump since a 4.5 percent rate in the fourth quarter of last year, but was below the 3.6 percent advance originally reported and what economists expected. Though rising wages and benefits are good for workers, if the wage gains trump productivity levels, it could create serious inflation problems as businesses are forced to boost the cost of their products to cover the higher wage demands. The Federal Reserve was likely to view the latest development in productivity and labor costs against the backdrop of an economy that has fallen into a recession. During a recession, output falls, which hurts productivity, but rising job layoffs did contain wage increase demands.