Goldman – Govt Stats Are Missing "“Creative Destruction"; Start Of"Third Wave" Of Adjustments

One of the economic mysteries of the past five years or so has been the lack of labor productivity growth despite the return of economic growth in developed markets. In the US, labor productivity growth has averaged 0.6% per annum for the past five years, which is significantly below its long term average of 1.5%.

However, as Goldman Sachs’ analysts argue in a new research note published at the end of last week, poor labor productivity growth may be a direct result of productivity mismeasurement, which has arguably increased over time. The bank’s economics analysts argue that the potential for mismeasurement is a reason for optimism that labor productivity growth may actually be higher than official estimates indicate.