When the going gets tough, America gets more productive.

Productivity, the amount of output per hour of work, rose at an annual rate of 6.6 percent in the second quarter, the largest advance in productivity since 2003, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The first quarter of 2009 saw an increase in productivity of 0.3 percent. In the business sector, productivity increased 6.5 percent in the second quarter and in the manufacturing sector, it grew 4.9 percent

And when the going gets tough, America cuts labor costs.

Unit labor costs, the ratio of hourly compensation to labor productivity, fell 5.9 percent in the second quarter, the biggest drop since the second quarter of 2000, according to the Associated Press. The drop was due entirely to the increase in productivity, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The business sector saw a 6 percent decrease in unit labor costs, while in the manufacturing sector, unit costs actually increased by 0.2 percent. In the first quarter of 2009, unit costs fell 5 percent across all sectors.

See the full report.