MFP Publications

  • NEW Technical Information About the BLS Multifactor Productivity Measures for Major Sectors and 18 NAICS 3-digit Manufacturing Industries (HTML) (PDF 130 KB)
  • Overview of Capital Inputs for the BLS Multifactor Productivity Measures (HTML) (PDF 213 KB)
  • Changes in the Composition of Labor (PDF 48K)
  • "Preliminary Estimate of Multifactor Productivity Growth" (PDF 114 KB), by Peter B. Meyer and Michael J. Harper, Monthly Labor Review, June 2005, pp. 32-43.

      • An error in the multifactor productivity growth rate for 2003 appeared in the original article but it has been corrected in both the electronic and paper versions as of July 8th. Those who downloaded the earlier version should download the corrected version.

  • "Multifactor productivity change in the air transportation industry" (PDF 73 KB), by John Duke and Victor Torres, Monthly Labor Review, March 2005, pp.32-45.
  • "Multifactor productivity trends in manufacturing industries, 1987-96," PDF (91k), by Ziaul Z. Ahmed and Patricia S. Wilder, Monthly Labor Review, June 2001, pp.3-11.
  • Multifactor Productivity Measures for Three-digit SIC Manufacturing Industries, 1990-99," (PDF 150K) Report 956, January 2002.
  • Archive of MLR Articles on Productivity and Technology.
  • BLS Handbook of Methods, Bulletin 2490, April 1997.
  • "Productivity Measures: Business Sector and Major Subsectors," Chapter 10 of the BLS Handbook of Methods, BLS Bulletin 2490, April 1997, pp. 89-102.
  • "Industry Productivity Measures," Chapter 11 of the BLS Handbook of Methods, BLS Bulletin 2490, April 1997, pp. 103-109.
  • "Foreign Labor Statistics," Chapter 12 of the BLS Handbook of Methods, BLS Bulletin 2490, April 1997, pp. 110-121.
  • "Data sources and methods for measuring multifactor productivity in the utility services industries," (PDF 219K).
  • "The BLS Productivity Measurement Program," (PDF 95K), by Edwin R. Dean and Michael J. Harper, Discussion Paper presented at the Conference on Research in Income and Wealth: New Directions in Productivity Research, March 20-21, 1998.
  • "Hours at Work Survey, 2000," (PDF 27K), Brief description of the Bureau of Labor Statistics Hours at Work Survey for 2000.
  • "Productivity Measurement with Changing-Weight Indexes of Outputs and Inputs," (PDF 131K), by Edwin R. Dean, Michael J. Harper, and Mark K. Sherwood. Discussion paper presented at the OECD Expert Workshop on Productivity: International Comparison and Measurement Issues, May 2-3, 1996.
  • "Measurement of Productivity Growth in U.S. Manufacturing," (PDF 123K), by William Gullickson, Monthly Labor Review, July 1995, pp. 13-27.
  • "Difficulties in the Measurement of Service Outputs," (PDF 1,417K) by Mark Sherwood, Monthly Labor Review, March 1994, pp. 11-19.
  • "Hours at Work: A New Base for BLS Productivity Statistics," PDF (874K) by Mary Jablonski, Kent Kunze, and Phyllis Flohr Otto, Monthly Labor Review, February 1990, pp. 17-24.

    • Available on Request:

    • Labor Composition and U. S. Productivity Growth, 1948-90, BLS Bulletin 2426, December 1993. Changes in the educational attainment of the work force and their impact on MFP are measured.
    • The Impact of Research and Development on Productivity Growth, BLS Bulletin 2331, 1989. Presents annual measures of the stock of research and development and its contribution to productivity growth in the nonfarm business sector.
    • Trends in Multifactor Productivity, 1948-81, BLS Bulletin 2178, 1983. Presents BLS annual indexes of MFP and output per unit of capital services for private business, private nonfarm business, and manufacturing.