Free Republic

U.S. productivity rose at a 7.3% rate in second quarter, the largest quarterly increase since 2009. Labor costs also jumped, rising 12.2%. Labor Department report Friday... first estimate of second-quarter productivity and follows the first quarter’s 0.3% decline. Labor costs rose again in second quarter after rising at a 9.8% rate in the January-March quarter. It's biggest jump in labor costs since 2014. Productivity mostly lagged during record long 11-year expansion that followed the Great Recession, confounding economists. Defined as amount of output per hour of work, productivity is key to rising living standards, the slow pace of growth in...