March 06, 2007 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Productivity growth in 2006

Productivity, as measured by output per hour, increased 2.1 percent in the nonfarm business sector in 2006, reflecting increases of 3.9 percent in output and 1.7 percent in hours.

Annual percent change in nonfarm business productivity, 1997-2006
[Chart data—TXT]

This was the smallest annual increase in productivity since 1997, when output per hour rose 1.6 percent in the nonfarm business sector. 

Output per hour had grown at an above-average rate of 3.3 percent from 2000 to 2004. Between 1990 and 2000, productivity in nonfarm businesses rose 2.0 percent per year, on average.

These data are from the BLS Productivity and Costs program. Data are subject to revision. For more information, see the "Productivity and Costs, Preliminary Fourth Quarter and Annual Averages for 2006" (PDF) (TXT), news release USDL 07-0198.

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