How appropriate in a workweek shortened by the Labor Day holiday to learn that productivity of the American work force-which can be defined as fewer people working harder at cheaper wages to produce more goods and services that few can afford-spurted ahead during the spring months at the best pace in more than nine years.
Productivity, which officially is output per number of hours worked, advanced at an annual rate of 4.8 percent from April through June, an efficiency that helped drive down labor costs.
Economists as a general rule say that increased productivity is a key to future standards of living and ability to compete in global markets.
Recent productivity gains have been attributed to business investments in high-technology equipment and to, you guessed it, corporate restructuring and employment cutbacks.
One might assume that, just as a bear sleeps in the woods, those workers still employed would share in the efficency gains. Not exactly.
The Labor Department reported that hourly compensation, when adjusted for inflation, inched up a minuscule 0.1 percent in the second quarter.
