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Each line rebased to 100 where the shared window begins — growth from a common base, not levels.

Owners' Equivalent Rent (CPI) Labor Productivity
Owners' Equivalent Rent (CPI)Labor Productivity Rebased to 100 at Dec 1982
1990-91 Recession2001 RecessionGlobal Financial CrisisCOVID-19 Recession100150200250300350400100 = Dec 19821990200020102020Indexed to 100 · r = 0.98 over the overlap — correlation is not causation · econscout.com

Each series rebased to 100 at Dec 1982. owners_equiv_rent, productivity · read from cache, latest-revised.

  • Owners' Equivalent Rent (CPI)

    Consumer-price index for owners' equivalent rent.

    Consumer price index for owners' equivalent rent of residences, all urban consumers.

  • Labor Productivity

    Output produced per hour worked, as an index.

    Nonfarm business sector real output per hour of all persons, indexed to 2017=100.

Each measured on its own terms — compare the lenses, not just the lines. Full lessons → Learn

r = 0.98 very strong correlation · 172 overlapping months

…and that proves nothing. Two lines moving together is not one moving the other. Almost any pair of trending economic series correlates highly — they share the same long climb of growth, prices, and population, or it is chance. r measures co-movement over this exact window, never cause. Change the range or swap a series and watch r move. Why correlation isn’t causation →