For all of last year, productivity rose 4.4 percent, following a 5 percent gain in 2002, separate Labor Department figures show. That marks the first time since record-keeping began in 1947 that productivity has exceeded 4 percent in consecutive years.
I know many Freepers dislike this stat, but this is the most phenomenal statistic in any of the numbers I've seen in a decade, and it is the TRUE state of the U.S. economy---merely the most productive, inventive people on earth.
the report i just saw on FOX that claimed that new unemployment claims rose by 1,000 but the 4 week average dropped by 3,000.