WHAT ELSE IS IT A SIGN OF?:

Productivity Accelerates As Companies Slash Jobs (WSJ, 2/05/09)

Companies continue to slash jobs and output, but are producing more goods with fewer workers, a sign that the labor market could stay sluggish for some time.

Productivity, or output per hour, jumped in the fourth quarter, the Labor Department said Thursday, rising at a 3.2% seasonally adjusted annual rate in the last three months of 2008 compared with 1.5% in the prior period.