{"id":"f20902d43f73d88771a952793170b1673a58c98a40788ab571425c805665a49a","title":"ADP Research examines the power and puzzle of productivity","argument":"ADP Research published this piece on May 6, 2025. It argues that productivity—worker output per hour—could matter more to the economic and inflation outlook than the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate decision. ADP Research points to stronger productivity in 2024, but says the longer slowdown remains puzzling: research and development spending has grown faster since 2011 even as productivity growth has weakened, and manufacturing productivity has nearly stalled after leading earlier growth. The piece links productivity to workers’ pay and business costs. It says that when wages grow while productivity lags, the cost of producing each unit rises; unit labor costs have risen faster on average since 2011 than between 1989 and 2010. 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