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Tell-tale stat: U.S. worker productivity soars 6.4% in Q2

Posted Aug 11th 2009 6:00PM by Joseph Lazzaro (RSS feed)
Filed under: Forecasts, Good news, Employees, Economic data

Investors haven't had much to cheer during this 19-month-and-counting recession, but here's one item: U.S. worker productivity.

Productivity continues to rise and in Q2 in soared at an annualized rate of 6.4%, with unit labor costs falling at a 5.8 percent rate, the U.S. Labor Department announced Tuesday.

Continue reading Tell-tale stat: U.S. worker productivity soars 6.4% in Q2

These are the times that try economists' souls

Posted Aug 2nd 2009 2:30PM by Joseph Lazzaro (RSS feed)
Filed under: Forecasts, Economic data, Recession

Paraphrasing Thomas Paine: These are the times that try men's and women's souls ... especially if they're economists.

It's an economic law: population growth plus productivity growth equals GDP growth.

Well, the United States has the population growth, and for the past 20 years or so it's had the productivity growth. But GDP growth? Of late, that's been an empty chair at the party, as the United States remains in the grips of its worst recession in more than a generation.

Continue reading These are the times that try economists' souls

Ray of Light: U.S. corporate, worker productivity continues to rise

Posted Feb 6th 2009 1:30PM by Joseph Lazzaro (RSS feed)
Filed under: Forecasts, Good news, Employees, Economic data

These days, most investors, executives, and economists know that there's no shortage of unpleasant news regarding the U.S. economy.

Moreover, some days it's hard to find those bright spots that we know exist amid the the snow storm of the recession. Here's one: U.S. worker productivity.

Underscoring that while there are no positives to job layoffs -- each job loss is a tragedy -- citizens and investors can at least point to the fact that the U.S. workforce is becoming more productive, and corporate efficiency is improving.

Continue reading Ray of Light: U.S. corporate, worker productivity continues to rise

So far, despite Fed, congressional actions, inflation remains tame

Posted Feb 5th 2009 12:45PM by Joseph Lazzaro (RSS feed)
Filed under: Forecasts, Good news, Economic data

Inflation -- the bane of earnings -- must always be watched, lest it rob the nation of return on investment.

Further, while the inflation hawks have been out in force, given the U.S.'s likely, record fiscal stimulus package and the Federal Reserve's doubling of its balance sheet, so far inflation remains tame.

Unit labor costs -- a key gauge of inflation, and one the Fed watches closely -- rose at a 1.8% annualized rate in Q4 2008, the U.S. Labor Department announced Thursday. Meanwhile, productivity in Q4 2008 rose at a 3.2% annualized rate.

Productivity measures output per hour worked. Economists say rising productivity usually leads to increases in income, as businesses can increase salaries/wages paid without increasing their per unit costs.

Continue reading So far, despite Fed, congressional actions, inflation remains tame

U.S. today seen better-equipped to cope with oil, food price rises than 1970s

Posted Jun 19th 2008 4:17PM by Joseph Lazzaro (RSS feed)
Filed under: Forecasts, Other issues, Commodities, Oil

Just call it stagflation, updated for the globalization era.

Oil's record, 5-year rise, combined with increasing food costs, have increased inflation, reduced disposable income, and slowed the U.S. economy to a crawl, when combined with the effects of the end of the housing boom.

The above sounds like a prescription for a replay of the 1970s' stagflation era, but is it? Not quite, according to Stephen Cecchetti, professor of economics at the Brandeis University International Business School.

Cecchetti told Bloomberg News Thursday a more-flexible economy, with lower stockpiles of goods, increased fuel efficiency, increased worker productivity, and lower wage increases for employees are among the economic differences separating the 1970s and 2008 U.S. economies. As a result, Cecchetti doesn't see a repeat of the 1970s' high inflation/high unemployment levels.

Economist David H. Wang concurred with the above conclusion, but argued that the two major factors in the nation's enhanced ability to cope with large increases in commodity costs and other negative economic factors are energy efficiency and worker productivity.

Continue reading U.S. today seen better-equipped to cope with oil, food price rises than 1970s

A silver lining: U.S. Q3 productivity jumps 4.9%

Posted Nov 7th 2007 2:02PM by Joseph Lazzaro (RSS feed)
Filed under: Good news, Economic data, Commodities, Oil, Federal Reserve

The dollar, it seems, can't stop falling; oil, on the other hand, can't stop rising (let alone decline a little); General Motors (NYSE: GM) is taking a $39 billion charge; there's talk that Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) may take an as-yet undetermined (oh no) charge related to subprime debt, and the housing market remains sluggish, nationally, to put it diplomatically.

Other than that, to cite a famous line by Groucho Marx, things are fine.

Still, you may be wondering, "Is there any good news out there, financially-speaking?"

Indeed there is: The U.S. Labor Department announced Wednesday that U.S. non-farm productivity surged to an annualized rate of 4.9% in the third quarter -- the largest increase in productivity in four years -- and well above Wall Street's consensus of about 3.5%-3.7% productivity growth.

Continue reading A silver lining: U.S. Q3 productivity jumps 4.9%

The current state of wellness in the workplace

Posted Feb 8th 2007 2:40PM by Brian White (RSS feed)
Filed under: Rumors, Employees

Health care in the U.S. -- by many accounts -- is a crying shame. For being the richest and most resourceful nation on the planet, tens of millions of citizens go every day without health insurance coverage. Why is that? Is the actual cost of health insurance so high that these citizens just can't afford it?

That is the common reason for such a high number of uninsured patients. Even with employee benefits that many of these workers have, medical insurance is too high a cost for the benefit that's received by these folks.

But, in life -- what are the priorities? Houses? Cars? Money? Friends? Family? Health? That last one is a kicker -- because if you don't have your health, then you have nothing. And yet America is increasingly becoming less healthy through the lifestyle changes and nutritional habits we choose, the effects of this can be seen in a standard shopping mall or grocery store these days in the main form of obesity -- which in itself leads to high costs for employees (and employers) due to the added health care needs these individuals have.

Continue reading The current state of wellness in the workplace

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Last updated: November 26, 2009: 06:58 PM

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