Chapter 2. A Productive Workforce

Figure 2-1. Nonfarm business and manufacturing indexes of labor productivity

SOURCE: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Major Sector Productivity and Costs program.

• Nonfarm business labor productivity has followed a long-term growth trend since the data were first published 60 years ago, and growth has accelerated over the past decade.
   
• Labor productivity in 2007 was double the 1970 level and triple its 1954 level. Over the past decade (1997-2007), productivity climbed at a 2.6 percent annualized rate, well above the 1.6 percent rate over the prior decade (1987-1997) and the 1.7 percent rate for the prior 3 decades (1967-1997).
   
• Estimates of manufacturing productivity, which date from 1987, also show a pronounced acceleration in growth. Between 1997 and 2007, manufacturing productivity surged 4.0 percent annually, well above the 3.1 percent rate over the prior decade (1987-1997).

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