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Productivity trends in the furniture
and home furnishings stores industry
Productivity, as measured by output per hour of all persons, grew at an average rate of 3.0 percent in the furniture and home furnishing stores industry from 1967 to 1985.1 This gain is significantly above the productivity growth rate for the nonfarm business sector of the economy, which was 0.9 percent during the same period. The productivity trend rate in the furniture and home furnishings stores industry reflects an increase in output of 4.8 percent and a gain in hours of all persons averaging 1.8 percent.
Productivity growth in this industry compared favorably with trends in other retail trade industries measured by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Apparel stores had a slightly higher productivity growth rate of 3.6 percent during 1967-85. However, drug stores had a lower rate of 2.3 percent and retail food stores which posted an actual decline of 0.8 percent in productivity had a significantly lower rate.
The furniture and home furnishings stores industry comprises a variety of different retail stores besides furniture stores. These include stores selling floor coverings, draperies, curtains, upholstery, miscellaneous home furnishings such as glassware, household appliances, radios and televisions, and music and records. Productivity measures have been developed for the furniture and home furnishings stores component of the industry and the appliance, radio, TV, and music stores component, as well as for the overall industry.
This excerpt is from an article published in the May 1987 issue of the Monthly Labor Review. The full text of the article is available in Adobe Acrobat's Portable Document Format (PDF). See How to view a PDF file for more information.
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1 The furniture, home furnishings, and equipment stores industry is classified as SIC 57 in the 1972 Standard Industrial Classification Manual and its 1977 supplement, issued by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget. The subindustries within the furniture and home furnishings group include furniture, home furnishings, and equipment stores, except appliance stores (sic 571), household appliance stores (sic 572), and radio, television, and music stores (sic 573).
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