en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Resignation
2 corrections found
According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, economic productivity dropped 4.1% in 2021, the sharpest slope since 1948.
BLS reports the opposite for 2021: nonfarm business productivity grew 1.9%, not fell 4.1%. The largest annual productivity drop in recent BLS data was 1.7% in 2022, and BLS says that was the biggest decline since 1974, not 1948.
Full reasoning
BLS's own annual 2021 productivity release directly contradicts this sentence. It says "Nonfarm business sector productivity grew 1.9 percent in 2021".
BLS's later annual 2022 release says annual average productivity decreased 1.7 percent from 2021 to 2022, and calls that "the largest annual decline in the measure since 1974". So the article's claim is wrong on three points at once:
- Direction: 2021 productivity did not drop; BLS says it grew.
- Magnitude: BLS gives +1.9% for 2021, not -4.1%.
- Historical comparison: BLS says the largest annual decline was in 2022 and that it was the biggest since 1974, not 1948.
The article appears to have mixed up annual productivity data with some other BLS figure, but as written, this sentence is not accurate.
2 sources
- Nonfarm business sector productivity grew 1.9 percent in 2021 : The Economics Daily : U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
"Nonfarm business sector productivity grew 1.9 percent in 2021, as output increased 7.4 percent and hours worked increased 5.4 percent."
- Productivity and Costs News Release - 2022 Q05 Results
"Annual average productivity decreased 1.7 percent from 2021 to 2022. This is the largest annual decline in the measure since 1974."
the youngest of whom reached their mid-60s in the early 2020s.
This is off by several years. The Census Bureau defines Baby Boomers as those born from 1946 to 1964, so the youngest boomers were still in their late 50s in the early 2020s, not their mid-60s.
Full reasoning
The U.S. Census Bureau defines Baby Boomers as people born from 1946 to 1964.
That means the youngest baby boomers were born in 1964. So in the early 2020s they were roughly:
- 56 in 2020
- 57 in 2021
- 58 in 2022
- 59 in 2023
That is late 50s, not mid-60s.
A recent Census Bureau story is consistent with this: in 2025, baby boomers were in the 61 to 79 age range. If the youngest boomers were 61 in 2025, they could not have been in their mid-60s in the early 2020s.
2 sources
- Birth Cohorts Geographic Mobility Report
"Baby Boomers (born 1946 to 1964)."
- U.S. Population Aging as Nation Turns 250
"In 2025 ... 61 to 79 ... includes those born between 1946 and 1964 ... referred to as baby boomers."