May 31, 2000 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Productivity up in many service-producing and mining industries

In 1998, labor productivity as measured by output per hour increased in 80 percent of the service-producing and mining industries analyzed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Output growth was recorded by 82 percent of the industries, while hours of labor grew in 54 percent of the industries.

[Chart data—TXT]

Among the relatively large industries with productivity gains between 1997 and 1998 were telephone communications (6.4 percent), department stores (4.8 percent), grocery stores (1.1 percent), hotels and motels (0.8 percent), and eating and drinking places (0.6 percent). Industries with decreases in productivity included gas utilities (-3.3 percent), air transportation (-2.8 percent), and trucking, except local ( -1.8 percent).

This information is from the Industry Productivity Program. Additional information is available from "Productivity and Costs: Service-Producing and Mining Industries, 1987-98" news release USDL 00-156. Also, information on manufacturing industries can be found in "Productivity and Costs: Manufacturing Industries, 1987-97" news release USDL 00-155.