The Hunt for the Next 10 Bagger

[RULiquid]

U.S. productivity growth last year was worst since recession, new data show
New data released Wednesday showed U.S. productivity growth was the worst since the recession. And that’s not entirely bad news.

The data came from the Labor Department, in the form of the multifactor productivity series. Unlike the quarterly productivity data that comes out, this report attempts to include the impact of capital — new machines, for instance.

On this measure, productivity grew just 0.3% in 2013. That’s the worst showing since the 0.3% decline in 2009.

The main reason it was so weak was that companies were adding workers — but those workers didn’t immediately translate into additional output. That’s to be expected after companies relied on shrunken workforces after the recession. The 1.5% growth in labor hours compares to the average annual fall of 0.6% between 2007 and 2013.

There’s also evidence of corporate underinvestment in capital. Though “capital services” input grew 1.9% — the best showing since 2008 — it’s still far from the pre-recession levels that were consistently above 3%. http://blogs.marketwatch.com/capitolreport/2014/07/09/u-s-productivity-growth-last-year-was-worst-since-recession-new-data-show/