Need Some Good News?  Economy Shows MORE Signs Of Improvement

(Washington, D.C.) Productivity surged in the spring by the largest amount in almost six years while labor costs plunged at the fastest pace in nine years.  The Labor Department says productivity, the amount of output per hour of work, rose at an annual rate of 6.4 percent in the April-June quarter, while unit labor costs dropped 5.8 percent.  Both results were greater than economists expected.  The aggressive cost-cutting helps explain how many companies exceeded earnings expectations last quarter amid a severe recession and falling sales.
        (Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)