Good News on the Economy

It’s easy to get depressed about the economy with oil prices at nosebleed levels, food at the grocery store increasingly expensive and home prices continuing their downward spiral.

Still, the government came out with some good news: Productivity remains strong. During the first quarter of this year, nonfarm business productivity rose 2.6% annual rate (an upward revision from an earlier estimate of 2.2%.) Productivity has risen at a 3.3% pace the past four quarters, according to economist Ed Yardeni–the best performance since 2003.

What’s more, the data shows that no evidence of a 1970s-type wage-price spiral, suggesting that the Federal Reserve still has room to manuever.