October 09, 2003 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Productivity growth in information-sector industries

Between 1987 and 2001, productivity (as measured by output per hour) grew in six of the seven industries in the information sector for which BLS has measures.

Average annual percent change in output per hour for selected industries in the information sector, 1987-2001
[Chart data—TXT]

Output per hour rose 15.7 percent per year among software publishers. Productivity growth in the telecommunications industries was also strong, with an increase of 9.9 percent per year posted by the wireless telecommunications industry and an increase of 6.2 percent per year registered by the wired telecommunications industry. 

The one industry among the seven with a decline in productivity from 1987 to 2001 was cable and other subscription programming.

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, 2001" (PDF) (TXT), news release USDL 03-490. This news release presents industry productivity and related series that are based, for the first time, on the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS).

Related TED Article:

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