Productivity in the fabricated plate work industry: 1982-94 (ABSTRACT), Monthly Labor Review Online, May 1997

Productivity in the fabricated plate work industry: 1982-94

James D. York
Economist, Division of Industry Productivity Studies, Office of Productivity and Technology, Bureau of Labor Statistics

Increased use of computer technology in the industry’s design and production operations has been an important factor in the advance in productivity. Over the 1982–94 period, labor productivity in the fabricated plate work industry–which manufactures boilers, tanks, and similar products–increased at an average annual rate of 1.8 percent. Although output actually declined by 0.1 percent per year over the period, employee hours declined much more rapidly, at a rate of 1.8 percent per year. The more rapid decline in hours than in output was largely due to technological improvements in the industry.

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