Productivity is up, so somebody must be selling something. If a company has a product or service that has been successful in the past, there is no reason to believe that should change. Of course people have to start buying again, which is where I think the problem really is. I don't think wise businessmen who know anything about financial forecasting become scared just because the company might have to pay higher taxes. Over time, that's inevitable. Taxes never remain the same. You could cut taxes on them, but they're not going to hire just because they have the extra cash; they already have the extra cash.
Your still claiming they have "extra cash"? Now productivity is up? Geeze, Maggie.....there was 5% growth in the first quarter, and now we are down to 2.4% in the latest quarter. But, please keep spinning about the wise businessmen, maybe a deaf and blind person will believe you.
Wise businessmen will not allow their companies to go down the drain just because they don't particularly like the "political" climate.
Productivity falls 0.9 percent in second quarter
By MARTIN CRUTSINGER,
AP Economics Writer Martin Crutsinger, Ap Economics Writer
Tue Aug 10, 11:03 am ET
WASHINGTON – Worker productivity dropped this spring for the first time in more than a year, a sign that companies may need to step up hiring if they hope to grow.
Productivity declined at an annual rate of 0.9 percent in the April-to-June quarter after posting large gains throughout 2009, the Labor Department said Tuesday. Unit labor costs edged up 0.2 percent in the second quarter, the first increase since the spring of 2009.
Output of U.S. workers is the key ingredient to boosting living standards. It allows companies to pay workers more because of the increased production without being forced to raise the cost of their goods, which sparks inflation.
In most cases a slip in productivity would be a troubling sign for the economy. But some analysts believe a short-term drop is needed to boost the recovery. That's because it could be a signal that employers can no longer squeeze extra output out of leaner staffs.
"This could be a turning point as far as hiring goes," said Joel Naroff, president of Naroff Economic Advisors
Companies cut their payrolls during the recession and relied on fewer workers. For all of 2009, productivity shot up 3.5 percent, the best performance in six years.
However, over the two years of the recession, 8.4 million jobs were lost. Unemployment hit a high of 10.1 percent last fall and is now at 9.5 percent.
Economists believe companies need to stop slashing their work forces and start rehiring laid off workers. That will boost incomes and give households the support they need to increase consumer spending, which accounts for 70 percent of economic activity. And that would ultimately lead to more demand for those companies' products.
"Economists often tout the long-run benefits of strong productivity growth, but given the precarious state of the economy, a little more employment, even at the expense of productivity, would likely be helpful in the near term," said Sal Guatieri, senior economist at BMO Capital Markets.
Stocks retreated Tuesday as investors grew more cautious ahead of an announcement on interest rate policies later Tuesday by the Federal Reserve.
A second economic report Tuesday showed that inventories held by wholesale businesses edged up only a slight 0.1 percent in June while sales fell 0.7 percent.
It was the second consecutive drop in sales at the wholesale level and the biggest decline in 15 months. It raised worries about whether demand may be faltering, a development which could cause businesses to cutback on their restocking and act as a further drag on the economy.
A slowing in productivity and a rise in unit labor costs will not raise worries about inflation in the current environment because inflation pressures at the moment are nonexistent.
In fact, some analysts believe the bigger threat is the possibility of deflation, a destabilizing bout of falling prices and wages.
The 0.9 percent drop in productivity in the second quarter was the first decline since a 0.1 percent dip in the fourth quarter of 2008. It was the biggest fall since a 1.3 percent decrease in the third quarter of 2008.
The 0.2 percent rise in unit labor costs followed a 3.7 percent plunge in labor costs in the first quarter. It was the first increase since a 0.6 percent rise in the second quarter of last year.
Productivity falls 0.9 percent in second quarter - Yahoo! News
With no one able to buy their products, they will go out of business. It's really that simple.
Economists? Which economists are you talking about? There are several that say we could very well slide into another recession. Just depends on who you want to believe. Fact is....small businesses are not going to hire until they see the how Obama's policies are going to be played out, Maggie. It's their wallet, not the damn economists with a crystal ball. The only people that are being helped by barry's stimulus is government employees and union members, Maggie.....and at what cost per job?
Keep spinning, I see your trying.