The Dark Side of a Productivity Boom Is Just Now Coming to Light
Efficiency improvements can come from increasing output — or by cutting workers.
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I’m Chris Anstey, a senior economics editor in Boston, and today we’re looking at Enda Curran’s reporting on US productivity. Send us feedback and tips to ecodaily@bloomberg.net. And if you aren’t yet signed up to receive this newsletter, you can do so here.
Even before the full impact of the diffusion of artificial intelligence makes itself felt, US productivity has been accelerating. While Thursday’s latest reading is expected to come in a little slower, the pace of increase from the start of 2023 to the third quarter of last year was 2.6% — more than double the average for the decade through 2019.