Happy Labor Day to All

We Americans have celebrated the Labor Day holiday for more than a century. It is an occasion on which we recognize the importance of working men and women in our economy - and in maintaining a way of life that is the envy of billions throughout the world.

Labor Day has been observed during good times and those much worse than we as a nation are coping with now. Sometimes, as perhaps during the Great Depression, there may not have seemed to be much justification for a celebration.

But this year, working men and women have much to celebrate. Throughout our area, tens of thousands have helped companies large and small weather the recession. Often, it hasn't been easy - but we're getting there.

Nationally, the labor force clearly is doing its part to put the economy back on track.

The productivity of American workers, measured by comparing the number of hours worked against the economy's output in dollars, increased 3.5 percent last year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That was the biggest productivity gain in five years.

Of course, business productivity relies on many factors, including, for example, new technology that allows workers to produce more in less time.

But there is ample evidence productivity gains last year also involved tens of millions of Americans working harder and smarter.

Unfortunately, there is much to do before we can declare "Mission accomplished" in ending the recession. But this Labor Day, we can be guardedly optimistic - in part because of the working men and women who are enjoying a well-deserved holiday. If President Barack Obama and Congress will simply stop wasting the nation's resources and give businesses and their workers a break, the American economy will rescue itself. Working men and women are proving that, as statistics such as those on productivity indicate.

Happy Labor Day!