When the Labor Department reports the unemployment numbers for August today economists are expecting a stronger increase in August payrolls than in the prior two months and for the unemployment rate to remain the same. As for productivity, the 2.5 percent growth rate was the smallest since a 1.6 percent rating in the final quarter of 2002, but economists claim that this is decent given the current slow economic growth.
See "New Unemployment Numbers Due Today", Chicago Tribune, September 2, 2004