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 produc- tivity actually declined anywhere? How could this be re- lated to the convergence theory explained in this chapter?