The productivity report measures how much output is created by a unit of labor. Released at 8:30 am EST around the 7th of the second month of each quarter, the data reflects the activity during the previous quarter. This indicator has been of secondary importance until relatively recently because Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan has been very interested in productivity growth. Many economists believe that productivity growth allows the economy to grow at unusually high rates without causing inflation. If productivity is growing, employment costs can increase without resulting in inflation growth. For the latest data, visit the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
