1. (Labor Productivity) Go to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) page on Quarterly Labor Productivity at https://www. bls.gov/lpc/ and get the latest news release on productivity and costs. Rank the various sectors of the U.S. economy from highest to lowest according to their most recent pro- ductivity growth rates. Does what you found make sense to you? Why or why not?
2. (International Productivity Comparisons) The BLS also com- piles international data on manufacturing productivity at https://stats.bls.gov/news.release/prod4.toc.htm. For the most recent period, which nations have enjoyed the most rapid growth in manufacturing productivity? Which nations have experienced the slowest growth? Has productivity actually declined anywhere? How could this be re- lated to the convergence theory explained in this chapter?