Productivity

Atlas has been writing about the tepid nature of the current economic expansion for years.  Occasionally, there have been a couple of back-to-back quarters that harken to the trajectories of old (e.g., 2^nd & 3^rd quarter 2014 and 2^nd & 3^rd quarters 2017), but on balance America’s output growth has been lackluster, even the final quar

After more data were collected from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a revised report on third-quarter 2017 productivity and unit labor costs was released.  Productivity was unchanged in the revision, and unit labor costs figures were revised marginally.  Output per labor hour held steady at 3.0 percent in the revision, but this is nearly double the pace in the prior quarter.  Uni

America’s productivity jumped from July through September of 2017 according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).  Output-per-labor-hour increased 3.0 percent on an annualized basis, doubling the prior quarter’s pace.  This jump is the best quarterly improvement since the third quarter of 2014.  Additionally, unit labor costs rose as employee compensation

After more complete data were collected, it now appears America was more productive than first estimated from April through June of 2017.  New estimates from the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicate productivity increased 1.5 percent, upwardly revised from 0.9 percent; this is a stark contrast to the first quarter’s productivity gain of just 0.1 percent.  Additionally, unit labor

Many magazine covers and article headlines might lead folks to believe robots are taking over the labor market. Heck, even Atlas has written notes regarding expectations of greater automation in our economy. While firms have been able to produce cool robot videos like this one, there seems to be something missing in the data. This note will explore a couple of the glaring omissions.

Teachers are some of the most influential people in our lives.  Parents are often our earliest exposure to the role, imparting life’s essential information: things like eating, walking, and basic communications.  As we grow older, our paths cross with a growing number of teachers until we meet our first formal educator.  This initial professional might be affiliated with a