Even though GDP growth has been slow, job gains during this recovery have been stronger than those during the previous expansion--the so-called jobless recovery of the early 2000s. The combination of weak growth and strong hiring in this expansion implies small increases in output per hour, or productivity.
In fact, productivity has been increasing at a dismal pace, compared with virtually any period in the postwar era. I will return to productivity and growth in a moment. -5More positively, our current recovery compares fairly well with those of other advanced economies (figure 7). Output has increased faster, and unemployment has declined faster, in the United States than in other major advanced economies.