Editor's Note: Below is a brief excerpt and chart from today's Early Look written by Hedgeye Director of Research Daryl Jones. Click here to learn more.

"... As we've highlighted in the Chart of the Day, productivity, which is a proxy for the goods and services produced each hour by Americans, has now declined for three straight quarters. As the chart shows, productivity declined both sequentially and year-over-year. This was also the first time since 1979 that productivity has declined for three quarters in a row."

CHART OF THE DAY: Poking the Productivity Bear - 08.11.16 chart