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Banking on Productivity Gains to Stabilize Labor Market
Worker productivity rose in the first quarter, as companies cut costs by shedding workers and extracted more output from remaining employees. Analysts are hopeful that the increased efficiency will help slow rate of job cuts, which also appear to be easing from their formerly torrid pace.
Productivity, a measure of worker output by the hour, rose at a revised 1.6% annual rate in the first quarter, the U.S. Labor Department reported today (Thursday). That’s double the 0.8% estimated last month and a vast improvement over a 0.6% drop in the fourth quarter of 2008.
The gain in productivity was largely the result…
5Jun2009 | Money Morning | 0 comments | ContinuedEconomy Enters Dangerous Waters as Job Losses Mount in June
Payrolls tumbled for the sixth consecutive month in June, bringing the total number of job losses in the first half of the year to 438,000.
Such a steep drop in employment could easily cause consumer spending to falter in the months ahead and drag the economy into a recession.
After shedding 62,000 jobs in May, U.S. employers slashed another 62,000 jobs in June, the Labor Department said last week. Builders reduced payrolls by 43,000 after cutting 37,000 employees in May. Financial firms cut 10,000 jobs in June after losing 3,000 the month prior. And factory payrolls dropped by 33,000 after…
7Jul2008 | Money Morning | Comments Off | Continued
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