February 03, 2006 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Productivity growth in 2005

Productivity, as measured by output per hour, increased 2.7 percent in the nonfarm business sector in 2005, reflecting increases of 4.1 percent in output and 1.4 percent in hours.

Annual percent change in nonfarm business productivity, 1996-2005
[Chart data—TXT]

In comparison, nonfarm productivity from 2001 to 2004 had grown at an above-average rate—3.7 percent. Productivity had been growing at an annual rate of 2.5 percent from 1995 to 2001.

These data are from the BLS Productivity and Costs program. Data are subject to revision. For more information, see the "Productivity and Costs, Preliminary Fourth Quarter and Annual Averages for 2005" (PDF) (TXT), news release USDL 06-159.