“Global productivity growth has recovered remarkably well following the economic and financial crisis,” said Bart van Ark, Senior Vice President and Chief Economist of The Conference Board. “It remains to be seen whether global productivity growth will return to its pre-recession trend as employment picks up momentum in 2011.”
“U.S. productivity growth will be tempered briefly in 2011 as employment recovers from its major recession cutbacks but that’s temporary – the underlying productivity growth trend in the United States remains stronger than it is in Europe.”
The data reported today is drawn from The Conference Board Total Economy Database. Widely watched and utilized by analysts around the world, the database is available free of charge for public use. It is updated in January in The Conference Board Productivity Brief and in more in-depth reports later in the year.
Among today’s key points:
- As cyclical effects abate, advanced economies’ productivity gains from 2010 will moderate slightly in 2011. Advanced economies saw an above-trend recovery in labor-productivity growth in 2010 but this is projected to decelerate in 2011.
- Among emerging countries, China and India remain the largest and most dynamic economies in productivity terms, with respective productivity growth of 8.7 percent and 5.4 percent in 2010.
- In 2010, Turkey’s productivity growth jumped, Brazil outperformed the Latin American region as a whole, and Russia’s productivity growth recovered remarkably.
- The long-term trends in world labor productivity and Total Factor Productivity are still weak.
- U.S. productivity growth will slow substantially in 2011 and could even fall below the rate in the Euro Area.
