On Tue, 11 Aug 2009 21:10:59 -0400, Keith Nuttle
wrote:

jps wrote:

Feel like you’re working a lot harder these days, putting in longer
hours for the same pay — or even less? The latest round of government
data on worker productivity indicates that you probably are.

The Labor Department said Tuesday that the American work force
produced, at an annual rate, 6.4 percent more of the goods they made
and services they provided in the second quarter of this year compared
to a year ago. At the same time, “unit labor costs” — the amount
employers paid for all that extra work — fell by 5.8 percent. The jump
in productivity was higher than expected; the cut in labor costs more
than double expectations.

That is, despite the deep job cuts of the past year, workers who
remain on the payroll are filling in and making up the work that had
been done by their departed colleagues. In some cases, that extra work
came with a smaller paycheck.


Full story here...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32374533...n_the_economy/

On todays production lines the volume can be increased without a
corresponding increase in the effort of the individual. So a 6.4%
increase in production does not mean that the employee is being
overworked as implied.

Don't know if you're heard, we don't have production lines here
anymore. We're in the service business and military arms. The
productivity gains come from less workers doing more, working longer
hours for pay that doesn't keep up with the rising cost of living.