Today’s Labor Productivity release for July saw growth of 0.9% on an annualized basis. While this beat Wall Street consensus, it does little to dissuade the argument that those halcyon days of rapid growth and productivity are things of the past. Year to year improved 1.2%, well below the post WWII average of 2.1%.

Manufacturing saw a nice quarter to quarter bounce in productive of 2.5%, but it is only +1.0% from a year earlier. This is the issue at the heart of the demise in productivity. If this persist, there will be pressure on wages and slower investment. (Of course, until we address the educational and training issues in this nation, there will also be a drag on wages and investment.)

This brings us to Unit Labor Cost, which continues to be sluggish.

Non-Farm Business

• Q/Q +0.6%
• Y/Y -0.2%

Manufacturing

Durable

• Q/Q -0.8%
• Y/Y -0.5%

Non-Durable

• Q/Q +1.2
• Y/Y +1.1%

We have completed our assessment of the Trucking Industry. Click here to download the report.