U.S. productivity slips in Q2
American productivity growth slipped in the second quarter of 2008 and was below what Wall Street expected, according to U.S. government statistics released on Friday.
The amount of goods and services each American worker produced went up by 2.2 per cent in the April to June period, the U.S. Department of Labour said.
But that was a drop compared with the first three months of the year, when productivity grew by 2.6 per cent.
Economists had been expecting the productivity figure to come in at 2.7 per cent for the second quarter.
Still, some economists saw the number as proof that the U.S. is not in as bad a shape as is often suspected.
"Productivity should continue strong as companies slash costs to deal with the current environment," said Sal Guatieri, an economist at BMO Capital Markets.
Other economy watchers pointed out, however, that the decent productivity figures are the result of a slowing U.S. economy.
"The economy is limping along and businesses are doing whatever they can to remain competitive," said Joel Naroff, president of Naroff Economics Advisors in Holland, Pa. "So we had fewer people working shorter hours and producing more."
Productivity, defined as the output of an economy divided by the number of people employed, can show how well an economy is performing, some economists say. They say highly productive economies generate more jobs and increased wealth for citizens.
U.S. manufacturing productivity fell in Q2(M. Spencer Green/Associated Press)But productivity can also rise when the economy sours.
While economists might be split over the indicator's strength, the U.S. second-quarter figures were unambiguously bad for its manufacturing sector. Hit by fierce foreign competition, manufacturers saw their productivity fall 1.5 per cent in the period.
Historically, Canada has lagged behind the United States in productivity.
Canada's labour productivity grew by a feeble 0.6 per cent in 2007.
0 comments:
Post a Comment