July/August 2007, Vol. 130, No. 7
Labor month in review
The July/August
Review
Multifactor productivity up again
The “average day”
Work at home
Auto industry concentration
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Labor month in review from past issues
As we alerted readers in the June issue, these two covers surround the content planned for both the July and August numbers of Monthly Labor Review. (Catalog as Vol. 130, Nos. 7 & 8.) Readers who use the Current Labor Statistics tables at the back of the book should note that the data in this double issue are those that would have appeared in August. If you need data as they would have appeared in the July issue, please go online to www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2007/07/cls0707.pdf or contact us by email at MLR@bls.gov.
In this issue, Tammy Hredzak, Joseph Kowal, Antonio Lombardozzi, and William Snyders summarize producer price developments in 2006.
Dino Drudi provides a detailed analysis of work injuries and fatalities associated with rail transportation.
Daniel H. Weinberg draws on the vast Census 2000 data files to compare men’s and women’s earnings.
Stella Cromartie draws a visual essay of labor force categories within families.
Multifactor productivity up again
Multifactor productivity in the manufacturing sector rose 3.4 percent in 2005. This is the fourth consecutive year that multifactor productivity rose in manufacturing. Multifactor productivity measures the joint influences of technological change, efficiency improvements, returns to scale, reallocation of resources, and other factors on economic growth, allowing for the effects of capital and labor.
The multifactor productivity gain in 2005 reflected a 3.5-percent increase in sectoral output and a 0.1-percent increase in combined inputs, which, while modest, was the first increase since 1999. To learn more, see "Multifactor Productivity Trends in Manufacturing, 2005," news release USDL 07-0822.
On an "average day" in 2006 in the United States, persons age 15 and older slept about 8.6 hours, spent 5.1 hours doing leisure and sports activities, worked for 3.8 hours, and spent 1.8 hours doing household activities. Eating and drinking accounted for 1.2 hours in the average day, and purchasing goods and services took 0.8 of an hour (48 minutes). The remainder of the day was spent attending school, caring for others, or engaged in a variety of other activities
These "average day" measures, which show the overall distribution of time allocation for society as a whole, are calculated with data from all segments of the civilian population age 15 and older—including persons who are employed, unemployed, or not in the labor force.
By comparison, an average weekday for persons employed full time and who worked on that day included 9.3 hours working, 7.6 hours sleeping, 3.0 hours doing leisure and sports activities, and 0.9 hour doing household activities. The remaining 3.2 hours were spent in other activities, such as those described above. See "American Time Use Survey–2006 Results," news release USDL 07-0930, for more information.
On the days that they worked, 21 percent of employed persons did some or all of their work at home. Men and women were about equally likely to work at home. Multiple jobholders were much more likely to work at home than were single jobholders—39 percent to 19 percent.
Employed persons with higher educational attainment were also much more likely to work at home than those with lower levels of education, ranging from less than 6 percent of those with less than a high school diploma to 37 percent of those with a bachelor’s degree and higher. The data also are from the American Time Use Survey.
In 2001, Michigan’s automobile manufacturing industry had 90,300 employees. By 2005, this employment had fallen to 65,500. As a result, the industry’s location quotient—a measure of relative employment concentration—fell from 9.3 to 7.9. Despite the decline in concentration between 2001 and 2005, Michigan was still the most concentrated State in automobile manufacturing in the Nation in 2005.
In motor vehicle parts manufacturing, Michigan’s location quotient fell from 7.6 in 2001 to 7.0 in 2005. Despite this decline in concentration, Michigan also remained the most concentrated State in the Nation in 2005 in auto parts manufacturing.
In 2001, Indiana had the highest relative employment concentration in motor
vehicle body and trailer manufacturing industry, 8.0, and this concentration
increased to 9.9 in 2005. Find out more in "Automotive industries:
Concentration and change," Issues in Labor Statistics, BLS
Summary 07-04, available online at www.bls.gov/opub/ils/pdf/opbils59.pdf.
Communications regarding the Monthly Labor Review may be sent to the Editor-in-Chief by e-mail to mlr@bls.gov, by mail at 2 Massachusetts Avenue NE, Room 2850, Washington, DC, 20212, or by fax to (202) 691–7890.
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