It’s enlightening to read the economic data popping out from the various number crunchers. Guess what? Productivity climbed beyond anyone’s expectations, according to this story on The Wall Street Journal’s website this morning:

Nonfarm business productivity jumped 4.3%, at an annual rate, in the second quarter, the Labor Department said Thursday. That’s almost double the initial estimate of 2.2% growth.

   At the same time, in a different story in the same paper:

Private sector employment in the U.S. declined by 33,000 in August, in line with expectations, according to the ADP national employment report. The data are seen as an important precursor to the federal government’s monthly report on nonfarm payrolls. That report will be released Friday before trading begins.

Meanwhile, the number of U.S. workers filing new claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly rose 15,000 last week, the Labor Department reported, remaining at an elevated level that suggests more declines in nonfarm payrolls.

   Of course, the genuises who wrote these stories–or, really, their editors–see these two stories as separate, not living in the same world. In fact, they are very closely connected:

   People are working their butts off harder than ever before, continuing the trend where productivity–how hard people work to produce the same thing–outpaces wages (which are supposed to go up when productivity goes up). And they are doing that because there are fewer jobs to find generally–and certainly fewer jobs at what is likely comparable pay.

   Duh.