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June 2009

Productivity trends in business cycles: a visual essay

Michael Chernousov, Susan E. Fleck, John L. Glaser

Productivity measures are used to assess the state of the economy. The series of charts in this visual essay provides an overview of labor productivity and related measures in the U.S. nonfarm business and manufacturing sectors. The nonfarm business sector accounts for three-fourths of output and employment in the total economy; manufacturing—a subsector of nonfarm businesses—produces about a quarter of U.S. output and accounts for just under 10 percent of its employment.

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