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Indicator observatory

Exact relationship builder

Indicator comparison lab

Compare two measures while keeping their entities, periods, units, and source populations visible. A visual association does not establish causation.

Declared indicator relationship network15 exact pairing contracts span source-backed series across markets, industries, geographies, business dynamism, and merger activity.0117021703180467905510651073,1040810209114101151138123813920149201510
Active planeProductivity x unit labor costs38 exact pairs · r 0.93
Relationship planes15declared contracts
Exact pairs6,194entity-period matches
Domains6bounded universes
Imputation0missing sides filled
Comparable hereExact pairs, within-contract ranks, coverage, and descriptive association.
Never inferred hereCausation, legal market findings, forward-filled values, or a national composite score.
Read method

Comparison controls

Build an exact paired slice

Evidence scopeAll source records
Exact pairing ruleSame nonfarm-business major-sector universe and exact calendar quarterAll paired periods · Productivity and labor costs · both-side evidence

Paired visualization

Labor productivity and unit labor costs

38 exact pairs in this slice
Exact pairs
38
all plotted
Correlation
+0.93
Strong positive association
0.86
descriptive linear fit
Evidence
36
verified on both sides

Paired comparison cohort

0 / 5 entities · fixed 38-pair benchmark

Select a point, then add it or its nearest exact-pair peers.

The cohort changes the overlay and exact export only. Full-slice medians, correlation, quadrants, and coverage remain fixed.

United States productivity; 2017-Q1; Labor productivity 99.4; Unit labor costs 99.2United States productivity; 2017-Q2; Labor productivity 99.5; Unit labor costs 99.7United States productivity; 2017-Q3; Labor productivity 100.3; Unit labor costs 100.2United States productivity; 2017-Q4; Labor productivity 101.0; Unit labor costs 100.8United States productivity; 2018-Q1; Labor productivity 101.4; Unit labor costs 101.1United States productivity; 2018-Q2; Labor productivity 101.4; Unit labor costs 101.6United States productivity; 2018-Q3; Labor productivity 101.7; Unit labor costs 102.3United States productivity; 2018-Q4; Labor productivity 101.5; Unit labor costs 102.8United States productivity; 2019-Q1; Labor productivity 102.3; Unit labor costs 104.4United States productivity; 2019-Q2; Labor productivity 103.0; Unit labor costs 103.8United States productivity; 2019-Q3; Labor productivity 104.1; Unit labor costs 102.7United States productivity; 2019-Q4; Labor productivity 105.1; Unit labor costs 103.5United States productivity; 2020-Q1; Labor productivity 104.7; Unit labor costs 106.3United States productivity; 2020-Q2; Labor productivity 109.8; Unit labor costs 107.3United States productivity; 2020-Q3; Labor productivity 111.5; Unit labor costs 104.1United States productivity; 2020-Q4; Labor productivity 110.6; Unit labor costs 107.6United States productivity; 2021-Q1; Labor productivity 111.4; Unit labor costs 106.9United States productivity; 2021-Q2; Labor productivity 111.6; Unit labor costs 108.4United States productivity; 2021-Q3; Labor productivity 110.9; Unit labor costs 110.5United States productivity; 2021-Q4; Labor productivity 111.6; Unit labor costs 111.5United States productivity; 2022-Q1; Labor productivity 110.2; Unit labor costs 113.5United States productivity; 2022-Q2; Labor productivity 109.4; Unit labor costs 114.4United States productivity; 2022-Q3; Labor productivity 109.4; Unit labor costs 116.4United States productivity; 2022-Q4; Labor productivity 110.0; Unit labor costs 115.9United States productivity; 2023-Q1; Labor productivity 110.3; Unit labor costs 116.5United States productivity; 2023-Q2; Labor productivity 111.4; Unit labor costs 117.2United States productivity; 2023-Q3; Labor productivity 112.8; Unit labor costs 117.6United States productivity; 2023-Q4; Labor productivity 113.9; Unit labor costs 117.9United States productivity; 2024-Q1; Labor productivity 113.9; Unit labor costs 119.5United States productivity; 2024-Q2; Labor productivity 115.0; Unit labor costs 119.8United States productivity; 2024-Q3; Labor productivity 116.0; Unit labor costs 120.2United States productivity; 2024-Q4; Labor productivity 116.4; Unit labor costs 121.0United States productivity; 2025-Q1; Labor productivity 116.2; Unit labor costs 123.2United States productivity; 2025-Q2; Labor productivity 117.4; Unit labor costs 122.3United States productivity; 2025-Q3; Labor productivity 118.9; Unit labor costs 122.6United States productivity; 2025-Q4; Labor productivity 119.4; Unit labor costs 123.2United States productivity; 2026-Q1; Labor productivity 119.6; Unit labor costs 123.6United States productivity; 2026-Q2; Labor productivity 120.0; Unit labor costs 124.0
Selected exact pairUnited States productivityUS-PRODUCTIVITY · 2026-Q2 · Productivity and labor costs
Labor productivity
120.0
Preliminary · High
Unit labor costs
124.0
Preliminary · High
Median positionAt or above both slice medians
X source
bls-major-sector-productivity-2026-q2
Y source
bls-major-sector-productivity-2026-q2
Research handoff3 canonical profiles
Open context map

Coverage diagnostics

What entered the plane, and what did not

Pairing coverage is reported separately for each indicator denominator. A matched row is not evidence that either source covers the full underlying economy.

Labor productivity100.0%38 matched of 38
Unit labor costs100.0%38 matched of 38

The National Economic Context Observatory places exact source observations on one dated workspace, but it does not merge their units, frequencies, universes, seasonal-adjustment conventions, or release calendars. Monthly, quarterly, calendar-year, and fiscal-year signals keep independent scales. Missing periods are not interpolated or carried forward. These descriptive accounts do not establish concentration, profits, markups, employer power, a legal antitrust market, policy effectiveness, welfare effects, or causation, and they are never combined into a composite score. The paired indexes do not identify markups, profits, concentration, or a causal mechanism.

Higher / higher14
Higher X / lower Y5
Lower X / higher Y5
Lower / lower14

Quadrants use this filtered slice's medians: 110.4 and 111.0.

Slice ledgers

Period and group structure

Counts and correlations stay inside exact paired rows. Small groups may be too thin for a stable descriptive association.

Reusable comparison packet

Carry the exact contract into analysis

The endpoint returns every matched row in the filtered slice, both observation identifiers, both source routes, evidence status, confidence, entity, group, and period.

This lab compares only declared same-entity, same-period pairs. Missing sides are excluded rather than imputed, correlation remains descriptive, and unlike universes are never combined into a composite market-power score.

Relationship directory

15 declared planes, no arbitrary joins

Each route names both measures and its exact pairing rule. Select a plane to rebuild the lab around that bounded universe.