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

Productivity in largest manufacturing industries

Labor productivity—defined as output per hour—rose in 2004 in each of the four largest manufacturing industries, those with more than 500,000 employees.

[Chart data—TXT]

The largest, motor vehicle parts manufacturing, recorded a productivity gain of 1.1 percent. The next largest industry, printing and related support activities, had a 2.5 percent increase in output per hour. 

The two other industries, plastics product manufacturing and animal slaughtering and processing, recorded hourly productivity increases of 0.9 and 2.0 percent, respectively. 

Among these four largest industries, two increased output slightly and all four industries posted slight to moderate declines in hours.

This information is from the BLS Productivity and Costs Program. Additional information is available from "Productivity and Costs by Industry: Manufacturing, 2004" (PDF) (TXT), news release USDL 06-774.