Productivity Is Falling In The US…Or Is It?

In June, the US Labor Department released a

showing that worker productivity in the nation had fallen in the first quarter of 2015. Output per hour worked fell 3.1 percent in the three months from January to March and marked the first time that productivity had fallen for two quarters in a row since 2006.

Productivity can be a valuable measure of economic strength. Many believe that the downward trend in worker productivity could be connected to weak economic growth. Lower productivity also suppresses wage growth and drags down business investment. Even Federal Reserve Chief Janet Yellen has shown concern for the nation's downward productivity trend, which appears to stem from the US recession.

While the cause of the lower productivity figures is uncertain, some have attributed the lower output per hour worked to companies' belt tightening efforts. When times were tough during the financial crisis, many businesses trimmed spending on things like new equipment, employee training and new research.

Despite the Labor Department's figures,

that US productivity has actually increased. They argue that the nation instead has a problem measuring productivity in the digital world. The advent of new apps which make life faster, easier and more streamlined has actually made people much more efficient, but since most of those services are free they aren't measured in the official productivity tally. However, in Silicon Valley where new tech is often born, many believe that it is only a matter of time before these products become measurable and hit the market.