I Just Declared Email Bankruptcy - Woo Hoo!

I looked at my email (my "real" email, not my Financial Rounds one) last week and decided it had gotten out of control - over 1000 old messages. I started deleting the old ones, but thought I'd never get it done - thee were just too many.

Then, I solved the problem by accident - I inadvertently ended up declaring "email bankruptcy".

I signed up for Hotmail's premium service a few years ago, since at the time it was the only one offering the capability of emailing large file attachments. The bill for renewal came due a while ago, and I forgot to renew it. So, Hotmail bumped me down to the "standard" version. In the process, they deleted all but the 200 or so most recent messages. Of course, this includes messages I received way back in 2006, so there probably wasn't anything I needed in the older ones anyway.

I feel much better now.

Labor Productivity Revised Upward to 6.9%; Unit Labor Costs Fall 5.9%

Labor productivity growth was revised upwards for the fourth quarter to 6.9% at a seasonally adjusted annualized rate. This compares to 6.2% growth previously reported. This was the third consecutive quarter where labor productivity grew at rates near or in excess of 7%. The gains occurred due to increasing output as firms also reduced their payrolls. Output rose 7.6% on an annualized basis compared to 7.2% previously reported. Before widespread hiring occurs, firms are seeking to increase output from their existing workforce. Though these past quarters of productivity growth are a positive for long term income growth, for the time being its reducing firms need to hire new workers and is helping to keep the unemployment rate up in the short run.

Labor cost per unit of output fell 5.9%. As productivity increases, there is no inflationary pressure occurring from the labor markets at this time.

(SAAR) %	Q4 2009	Q3 2009	Q2 2009	Q1 2009	Q4 2008	Q3 2008
Output Per Hour	6.9	7.8	7.6	0.9	2.2	1.1
Compensation Per Hour	0.6	-0.4	7.7	-4.2	4.5	6.0
Unit Labor Costs	-5.9	-7.6	0.1	-5.0	2.2	4.9

10.03.04 (Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics)