Industrial

Productivity Up in ’17

Economists have long bemoaned America’s recent relatively puny gains in productivity, particularly amid an expanding economy.

But the third quarter 2017 showed a reversal of this trend, with productivity rising by a healthy 3%, according to an Associated Press article citing government statistics.

The July-September figure was double that of the second quarter (1.5%) and the third quarter number far exceeded the 0.1% rise recorded in the first quarter of last year. The upturn is good news because economists believe that increasing output per hour is critical to improving living standards.

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