November 13, 2003 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Factory output and productivity higher in third quarter

Productivity in manufacturing—as measured by output per hour—increased at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 8.6 percent in the third quarter of 2003.

[Chart data—TXT]

Output grew 2.9 percent and hours of all persons fell 5.2 percent. Total manufacturing output had decreased in each of the previous three quarters.

Hourly compensation of manufacturing workers increased an average of 4.3 percent during the third quarter of 2003, reflecting increases of 3.7 percent in durable goods and 5.3 percent in nondurable goods. When the increase in consumer prices is taken into account, real hourly compensation in total manufacturing rose 1.9 percent in the third quarter.

Unit labor costs in manufacturing decreased 4.0 percent in the third quarter of 2003, after increasing 1.9 percent in the second quarter.

These data are from the BLS Productivity and Costs program. Data are presented as seasonally adjusted annual rates and are subject to revision. Additional information is available in "Productivity and Costs, Third Quarter 2003" (PDF) (TXT), news release USDL 03-674.