It is no coincidence that so many high-tech firms locate near each other in California’s Silicon Valley or North Carolina’s Research Triangle; these firms benefit from the ability to draw on sufficiently large pools of skilled labor and other resources, while sharing ideas and information in mutually beneficial ways.13 A single, isolated firm would not likely be as productive.
In the second half of 1999 growth was recorded in nearly all the major sectors of the economy. Inflationary pressures were well contained in an environment of rising fuel and food prices. Large productivity increases combined with a lower rate of increase in the earnings of workers brought the growth in nominal unit labour costs down to a level of only 3.5% in 1999.