March 21, 2008 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Manufacturing industries and productivity, 2006

Labor productivity—defined as output per hour—rose in 2006 in 52 percent of the manufacturing industries studied by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Proportion of manufacturing industries with increases in labor productivity, output, and hours of labor, 2005-06
[Chart data—TXT]

Output, the production of manufactured goods, rose in 56 percent of the industries in 2006 and hours increased in 43 percent. Hours declined in 57 percent of the industries. 

From 1987 to 2006, labor productivity increased in all but 1 of the 86 manufacturing industries. Output rose in 78 percent of the industries and hours fell in 79 percent. 

This information is from the BLS Productivity and Costs Program. Additional information is available from "Productivity and Costs by Industry: Manufacturing Industries, 2006" news release USDL 08-0382.