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Productivity gains roll at their fastest clip in 31 years (Del Jones and Barbara Hansen, 6/14/04, USA TODAY)

Still sweating the economy? Many are. Despite numbers showing the economy in a major growth pattern and, at last, an increase in jobs, there still is a lot of angst.

Rest easy. Productivity, the closest thing to Superman for the economy, has burst from the phone booth to initiate a rescue.

Government productivity statistics, revised this month, show productivity increasing 5.5% over the last 12 months, matching the fastest productivity gains in 31 years. And USA TODAY's fourth annual exclusive look at the productivity gains made by the nation's largest 100 companies shows that the country is on a multiyear roll not seen since just after World War II.

Seventy of the Fortune 100 companies saw their productivity rise in 2003, easily surpassing the average 53 of the three previous years, which were themselves banner years for productivity. A dozen companies in USA TODAY's study had productivity gains of more than 25%.

History says the gains will come to an end, but so far, there is little sign of that happening as companies employ programs such as Six Sigma and Lean Manufacturing to find ways to do more with less.

Such productivity gains are inherently deflationary, which makes the coming Fed rate increases almost criminal.

Posted by Orrin Judd at June 14, 2004 9:15 AM