Software is mostly a management technology. But there is all sorts of automation: CNC machines, industrial robots making stuff.
I think that a graph of "total factor productivity in the USA" is misleading without looking at factors like, say, how much manufacturing has disappeared from the USA and gone overseas in that period!"
You have to look at how much you're producing with how many people; and that cannot be some per capita based on the population, but the actual head counts in those industries that are covered by that graph: what is the productivity with how many people?
I think that a graph of "total factor productivity in the USA" is misleading without looking at factors like, say, how much manufacturing has disappeared from the USA and gone overseas in that period!"
You have to look at how much you're producing with how many people; and that cannot be some per capita based on the population, but the actual head counts in those industries that are covered by that graph: what is the productivity with how many people?