August 13, 2002 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Manufacturing unit labor costs fall again in second quarter

Unit labor costs in the manufacturing sector fell at an annual rate of 1.8 percent (seasonally adjusted) in the second quarter of 2002. This was the fourth consecutive decline in the series.

Percent change in unit labor costs, manufacturing, seasonally adjusted, 2000 III-2002 II (percent change from previous quarter at annual rate)
[Chart data—TXT]

The second-quarter decrease in unit labor costs in the manufacturing sector resulted from a combination of a 3.0-percent increase in hourly compensation and a 4.9-percent rise in productivity. The change in unit labor costs is roughly equal to the change in hourly compensation less the change in productivity.

These data are a product of the BLS Productivity and Costs program.  Unit labor costs—the cost of the labor input required to produce one unit of output—are computed by dividing labor costs in nominal terms by real output. Data are subject to revision. Additional information is available in "Productivity and Costs, Second Quarter 2002 (preliminary)" (PDF) (TXT), news release USDL 02-469.