October 05, 2005 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Wholesale-trade productivity in 2004

Labor productivity—defined as output per hour—rose 7.8 percent between 2003 and 2004 in wholesale trade.

Annual percent change in output per hour and related series, wholesale trade, 1987-2004 and 2003-2004
[Chart data—TXT]

Output also increased by 7.8 percent, while hours remained steady.

From 1987 to 2004, labor productivity rose at an average annual rate of 3.9 percent per year in wholesale trade. Output increased 4.4 percent per year, on average, while hours grew 0.4 percent per year.

The wholesale trade sector includes establishments engaged in wholesaling merchandise, generally without transformation, and rendering services incidental to the sale of merchandise. Wholesalers sell merchandise to other businesses and normally operate from a warehouse or office.

This information is from the BLS Productivity and Costs Program. Data are subject to revision. Additional information is available from "Productivity and Costs by Industry: Wholesale Trade, Retail Trade, and Food Services and Drinking Places, 2004" (PDF) (TXT), news release USDL 05-1820. 

 

Related TED articles:

Happy 10th Birthday, TED!

The very first issue of The Editor's Desk (TED) was posted on September 28, 1998. TED was the first online-only publication of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. For 10 years, BLS has been committed to posting a new TED article each business day, for a total of over 2,400 articles so far.

Find out more about the story of TED