Historically, in the U.S. and in other countries, periods of rapid productivity growth have been periods of strong employment growth.

It's hard to blame productivity growth for a lot of manufacturing job losses.

While the short-term growth outlook is somewhat weaker, the underlying economic fundamentals remain strong. This is not the time to abandon fiscal discipline in favor of large tax cuts. Maintaining a fiscal surplus helps keep interest rates attractive for investment.

Productivity and the growth of productivity must be the first economic consideration at all times, not the last. That is the source of technological innovation, jobs, and wealth.

We continue to believe that the underlying drivers of productivity growth are turning less favorable,

Low growth in GDP and a decline in productivity -- hours worked rose more than GDP -- implies margin compression and a sequential decline in operating profits.