WASHINGTON, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Thursday he expects U.S. productivity to continue growing solidly for some time to come.

    "A case can be made that the strong productivity growth of the post-1995 era is likely to continue for some time," Bernanke in remarks delivered to a conference at Greenville, South Carolina. Acopy of the remarks was made available here.

    One of the most important economic developments in the United States in the past decade or so has been a sustained increase in the growth rate of labor productivity, or output per hour of work, Bernanke said.

    Between 1995 and 2000, he said, the rate of productivity growth picked up significantly, to about 2.5 percent per year. The gains between 2000 and 2003 were 3.5 percent while the pace since then has been around 2.25 percent.

    The readings are much stronger than the average 1.5 percent productivity increase from the early 1970s until about 1995.

    Bernanke discussed the acceleration of productivity that has occurred over the past decade and current understanding of its causes.

    Technological changes and investment, both tangible and intangible, promote productivity in the United States, he noted.

    He added that a particularly important form of intangible investment in future years will be investment in the skills of the U.S. labor force.

    "New technologies will translate into higher productivity only to the extent that workers have the skills needed to apply them effectively," said the chairman.

    "If the recent gains in productivity growth are to be sustained, ensuring that we have a workforce that is comfortable with and adaptable to new technologies will be essential," he said. Enditem