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GDP, M&A, EBITDA, P/E, NASDAQ, Econo-thread Part 14

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  • GDP, M&A, EBITDA, P/E, NASDAQ, Econo-thread Part 14

    It's been some months since there was a post to the last GDP thread, so I thought I would start another. The last one is at...



    New US productivity numbers show some stunning productivity gains for final '02 (5.4%, the best since 1950) and excellent productivity in Q1 and Q2 (2.1% and 5.7%, respectively). Bring out the champagne!

    Here's an FT article about it...

    US labour market and productivity improve
    By John Labate in New York
    Published: August 7 2003 14:19 | Last Updated: August 7 2003 15:23

    The US employment sector continued to show signs of improvement, while productivity in the second quarter rose sharply, according to official reports released early Thursday.

    Initial claims for benefits fell to 390,000 last week, down by 3,000 from a revised figure of 393,000 for the prior week, according to a report by the US Department of Labor.

    More importantly to economists, the four-week moving average of claims fell to 397,250, the first time it has been below the 400,000 mark since mid-February. The four-week average is considered crucial since it tends to level out volatility in what can be an erratic weekly report. All figures are seasonally adjusted.

    In a separate report, US nonfarm productivity surged 5.7 per cent in the second quarter, up from 2.1 per cent in the first quarter, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. It was the highest productivity rise since the third quarter of last year and shows that in the face of a sluggish job market, output per employees continue to rise.

    Unit labour costs fell 2.1 per cent for the quarter, well below analyst expectations. Labour costs account for about 60 per cent of total costs and with costs falling and productivity rising sharply, US corporate margins are expected to get a boost. Hourly compensation rise 3.5 per cent.

    In a revision to last year's figures, the BLS report also noted that average annual nonfarm productivity rose 5.4 per cent during the four quarters of 2002, the sharpest rise since 1950.
    Attached is the BLS historic graph...

    Series Id: PRS85006092
    Duration: % change quarter ago, at annual rate
    Measure: Output Per Hour
    Sector: Nonfarm Business
    Attached Files
    I came upon a barroom full of bad Salon pictures in which men with hats on the backs of their heads were wolfing food from a counter. It was the institution of the "free lunch" I had struck. You paid for a drink and got as much as you wanted to eat. For something less than a rupee a day a man can feed himself sumptuously in San Francisco, even though he be a bankrupt. Remember this if ever you are stranded in these parts. ~ Rudyard Kipling, 1891

  • #2
    so what's the current GDP ranking of countries?

    Comment


    • #3
      I don't know if el freako has done his '02 finals yet. He has a great spreadsheet on it.
      I came upon a barroom full of bad Salon pictures in which men with hats on the backs of their heads were wolfing food from a counter. It was the institution of the "free lunch" I had struck. You paid for a drink and got as much as you wanted to eat. For something less than a rupee a day a man can feed himself sumptuously in San Francisco, even though he be a bankrupt. Remember this if ever you are stranded in these parts. ~ Rudyard Kipling, 1891

      Comment


      • #4
        Hurrah! Hurrah! The boom is back!!!
        “Now we declare… that the law-making power or the first and real effective source of law is the people or the body of citizens or the prevailing part of the people according to its election or its will expressed in general convention by vote, commanding or deciding that something be done or omitted in regard to human civil acts under penalty or temporal punishment….” (Marsilius of Padua, „Defensor Pacis“, AD 1324)

        Comment


        • #5
          Let the good times roll!
          I came upon a barroom full of bad Salon pictures in which men with hats on the backs of their heads were wolfing food from a counter. It was the institution of the "free lunch" I had struck. You paid for a drink and got as much as you wanted to eat. For something less than a rupee a day a man can feed himself sumptuously in San Francisco, even though he be a bankrupt. Remember this if ever you are stranded in these parts. ~ Rudyard Kipling, 1891

          Comment


          • #6
            Bubbele duh, bubbele dih...
            “Now we declare… that the law-making power or the first and real effective source of law is the people or the body of citizens or the prevailing part of the people according to its election or its will expressed in general convention by vote, commanding or deciding that something be done or omitted in regard to human civil acts under penalty or temporal punishment….” (Marsilius of Padua, „Defensor Pacis“, AD 1324)

            Comment


            • #7
              I'll book 5.4% productivity gains and laugh all the way to the bank!
              I came upon a barroom full of bad Salon pictures in which men with hats on the backs of their heads were wolfing food from a counter. It was the institution of the "free lunch" I had struck. You paid for a drink and got as much as you wanted to eat. For something less than a rupee a day a man can feed himself sumptuously in San Francisco, even though he be a bankrupt. Remember this if ever you are stranded in these parts. ~ Rudyard Kipling, 1891

              Comment


              • #8
                Until the next revisions.
                “Now we declare… that the law-making power or the first and real effective source of law is the people or the body of citizens or the prevailing part of the people according to its election or its will expressed in general convention by vote, commanding or deciding that something be done or omitted in regard to human civil acts under penalty or temporal punishment….” (Marsilius of Padua, „Defensor Pacis“, AD 1324)

                Comment


                • #9
                  No, the 5.4% is the final for '02, IIRC.
                  I came upon a barroom full of bad Salon pictures in which men with hats on the backs of their heads were wolfing food from a counter. It was the institution of the "free lunch" I had struck. You paid for a drink and got as much as you wanted to eat. For something less than a rupee a day a man can feed himself sumptuously in San Francisco, even though he be a bankrupt. Remember this if ever you are stranded in these parts. ~ Rudyard Kipling, 1891

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    AFAIK they one revised the hours data. The output revisions based on BEA data should have yet to come.
                    “Now we declare… that the law-making power or the first and real effective source of law is the people or the body of citizens or the prevailing part of the people according to its election or its will expressed in general convention by vote, commanding or deciding that something be done or omitted in regard to human civil acts under penalty or temporal punishment….” (Marsilius of Padua, „Defensor Pacis“, AD 1324)

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Annnyway....

                      Cue D2K.
                      I came upon a barroom full of bad Salon pictures in which men with hats on the backs of their heads were wolfing food from a counter. It was the institution of the "free lunch" I had struck. You paid for a drink and got as much as you wanted to eat. For something less than a rupee a day a man can feed himself sumptuously in San Francisco, even though he be a bankrupt. Remember this if ever you are stranded in these parts. ~ Rudyard Kipling, 1891

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Apl X4W!
                        “Now we declare… that the law-making power or the first and real effective source of law is the people or the body of citizens or the prevailing part of the people according to its election or its will expressed in general convention by vote, commanding or deciding that something be done or omitted in regard to human civil acts under penalty or temporal punishment….” (Marsilius of Padua, „Defensor Pacis“, AD 1324)

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Well lookee here...the GDP thread...


                          A couple weeks ago I heard Robert J. Gordon argue that the productivity gain is bogus. As interest rates fall, the implicit price of owner-occupied housing falls, taking the GDP deflator with it. This means that less of the change in nominal GDP is attributed to price changes, and more to output changes. Real income goes up, because housing prices fell, but the actual amount of output per worker remains unchanged. Gordon argued that this phenomenon is responsible for much of the growth in measured US productivity recently and in the 1960's, and that the same process, run in reverse, is responsible for much of the decline in measured US productivity in the 1970's. He also mentioned a couple of similar factors, such as inappropriate price measurement for apparel, but I will have to find the details in my notes.
                          Old posters never die.
                          They j.u.s.t..f..a..d..e...a...w...a...y....

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            AFAIK the contribution of owner-occupied housing to GDP is calculated using imputed rent (i.e. the rent that you don't pay because you own your home) so interest rates don't come into the equation.
                            19th Century Liberal, 21st Century European

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                            • #15
                              But IIRC rent is tied to the cost of capital for owning that asset.
                              Old posters never die.
                              They j.u.s.t..f..a..d..e...a...w...a...y....

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