U.S. companies slashed their workers’ hours in the second quarter, boosting the productivity of the workplace to an annualized rate of 6.4%, the Labor Department reported Tuesday.
It was the fastest increase in productivity in the nonfarm business sector in nearly six years. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had been looking for a gain of 5.4%.
Slashing hours is good for the American worker?!? We’ve turned another corner!
umm…did you miss the part about slashed hours? that’s you know..not a good thing. that means people are working less, and thus earning less money there oliver…
It’s good news, but only in a roundabout way.
Productivity is up because employers are cutting jobs or hours, but expecting employees to get the same amount of work done. There’s a limit to how far this can go–a fixed group of people can’t take on infinitely more work.
Sharp rises in productivity lead an increase in hours and jobs.
Historically has meant that a recession has come to an end. That’s what people who actually study things like history and the economy believe. Time to rebuild.
People who have jobs are dancing faster so they don’t get laid off.