Productivity growth is a key ingredient for raising living standards because it leads to higher incomes.  The chart shows the annual percentage increase in how much workers can produce per hour worked.  Since 2008 it has averaged only 1.2%, compared to its 1960-2007 average of 2.2%.

Put another way, at 2.2% it would take about 31.5 years for per capita incomes to double; at a rate of 1.2% it will take about 58 years.

 

LAST WEEK

News & Commentary Weekly Highlights:

• Cato: What Will Donald Trump’s Presidency Mean for the Federal Reserve? (Thursday)

• Market Watch: Fed’s Lacker sees more interest-rate hikes if Republican Congress enacts stimulus (Thursday)

• Wall Street Journal: Your Taxes Are About to Change—Perhaps Not the Way You Think (Thursday)

• Bloomberg: December Rate Hike on Track as ‘Nerdy’ Fed Avoids Politics (Thursday)

• Wall Street Journal: Donald Trump Victory Casts Clouds Over Fiduciary Rule (Wednesday)

 

Top Economic Indicator Highlights:

    ·        Job Openings and Labor Turnover Summary (JOLTS) (September)

o   Job Openings (seasonally adjusted):

§  September: 5.5 million; August: 5.5 million; July: 5.8 million

o   Hires (seasonally adjusted):

§  September: 5.1 million; August: 5.3 million; July: 5.3 million

o   Separations (seasonally adjusted):

§  September: 4.9 million; August: 5.1 million; July: 5.0 million

o   Noteworthy: The report attributes the lower rate of hires from August to September to the arts, education, and recreation industry.  It reports that other industries experienced little change.

JEC Releases:

        ·        Labor Review: Context for the October Labor Report (Monday)

  

THIS WEEK

Upcoming Economic Data

Upcoming JEC Hearing:

     ·        The Economic Outlook with Fed Chair Janet Yellen (Thursday, 10am)

Upcoming Economic Data

     ·        Monday

o Survey of Professional Forecasters (10:00am)

o Survey of Consumer Expectations (11:00am)

     ·        Tuesday

o Advance Retail Sales (8:30am)

o Empire State Manufacturing Survey (8:30am)

o Exports/Imports (8:30am)

o Business Inventories (10:00am)

     ·        Wednesday

o Business Leaders Survey (8:30am)

o Producer Price Index (8:30am)

o Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization (9:15am)

o Atlanta Fed Business Inflation Expectations Survey (10:00am)

     ·        Thursday

o Consumer Price Index (8:30am)

o Jobless Claims (8:30am)

o New Residential Construction (8:30am)

o Philly Fed Manufacturing Survey (8:30am)

o Real Earnings (8:30am)

     ·        Friday

o Composite Indexes (10:00am)

o Regional and State Employment and Unemployment (10:00am)