productivity

No, it's not a new plague. Rather, it's a little-known economics thesis that explains why uneven productivity gains in different sectors can have a huge impact on everything from consumer spending to government deficits. The latter is the nastiest side effect.

The Commerce Department reports that U.S. corporate profits have hit historic highs, so why isn't the GOP -- the party of business -- celebrating? After all, those profits are coming not from revenue growth -- which would benefit workers and executives -- but from cost cutting.

In today's economy, the mantra seems to be: "Do more with less." But workers are hardly thrilled. And managers say that the negative attitudes, which are resulting in criticism and lack of teamwork, are contributing to reduced productivity.

The capital markets have recovered nicely from the depths of the financial crisis's despair, though skittishness remains. What the economy sorely needs now is the next big thing -- perhaps a new technology that boosts business productivity.

The slowdown in worker productivity during the second quarter was larger than expected, but that may be good news for the unemployed. Declining productivity could place more pressure on businesses to invest in equipment or hiring.

With the latest weekly initial jobless claims declining 6,000 to 472,000, the U.S. labor market has eked out some modest improvement. Still, jobless claims need to drop below 400,000 during the next two quarters to show broad economic gains.

Workers who got less of a raise than they anticipated this year aren't alone. A new Hewitt survey of large companies finds the nation's slack recovery has prompted many employers to rein in expenses, thereby reducing planned raises and bonuses.

The ADP private sector report showed a gain of 65,000 jobs, just under the 70,000 analysts expected. And the latest weekly unemployment claims showed a 10,000 drop, just under the estimate of 13,000. Numbers are going the right way, but slowly.

A study of a thousand business people reported that 89% take work home, 65% work more than one weekend a month and 53% spend less than two hours a week looking after their children. Completed by the American Management Association, the study also revealed that more than 68% of the survey...

Higher productivity is good for both companies and workers, but where do improvements in productivity come from? The second entry in a three-part series exploring efficiency in the workplace.