Department of Labor Reports on Productivity

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today that labor productivity in the nonfarm business sector increased at a 3.1-percent annual rate during the third quarter of 2016, the first increase in that measure after three consecutive declines.

An Associated Press report cautioned that economists expect this one-quarter rise to be short-lived, and that productivity will return to a level similar to the 1.3 percent growth rate from 2007 to 2015.

Overall growth also indicates that the American economy still has some distance to travel in order to get productivity back to its pre-2007 rates of 2.2 percent (1990 to 2000) and 2.6 percent (2000 to 2007).