Productivity and Potential Output Before, During, and After the Great Recession

2014-15 | June 1, 2014

U.S. labor and total-factor productivity growth slowed prior to the Great Recession. The timing rules explanations that focus on disruptions during or since the recession, and industry and state data rule out “bubble economy” stories related to housing or finance. The slowdown is located in industries that produce information technology (IT) or that use IT intensively, consistent with a return to normal productivity growth after nearly a decade of exceptional IT-fueled gains. A calibrated growth model suggests trend productivity growth has returned close to its 1973-1995 pace. Slower underlying productivity growth implies less economic slack than recently estimated by the Congressional Budget Office. As of 2013, about ¾ of the shortfall of actual output from (overly optimistic) pre-recession trends reflects a reduction in the level of potential.

Article Citation

G. Fernald, John. 2014. “Productivity and Potential Output Before, During, and After the Great Recession,” Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco Working Paper 2014-15. Available at https://doi.org/10.24148/wp2014-15

About the Author
Abstract image representing a seat vacancy.
John G. Fernald is a senior research advisor in the Economic Research Department of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, and a professor of economics at INSEAD. Learn more about John G. Fernald