September 23, 2003 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Productivity up in just over half of industries in 2001

In 2001, labor productivity—as measured by output per hour—rose in 55 percent of the industries measured by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Output increased in 29 percent of the industries, while hours of labor grew in 20 percent of the industries.

[Chart data—TXT]

Output per hour increased in 50 of the 86 manufacturing industries in 2001. Over thirty percent of the industries in manufacturing had productivity gains greater than 2.5 percent. 

Five of the six largest manufacturing industries (in terms of employment) recorded growth in output per hour: motor vehicle parts manufacturing, printing and related support activities, plastics products, animal slaughtering and processing, and aerospace products and parts manufacturing.

Labor productivity rose in 18 of the 27 retail trade industries and in nine of the 20 industries in wholesale trade. Output per hour rose in five of the six largest retail industries: grocery stores, automobile dealers, other general merchandise stores, building material and supplies dealers, and clothing stores.

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).