September 03, 2004 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Productivity growth in second quarter revised downward

Productivity in the nonfarm business sector—as measured by output per hour—increased at a revised seasonally adjusted annual rate of 2.5 percent in the second quarter of 2004.

Previous and revised productivity and related measures, nonfarm business, second quarter 2004 (quarterly percent change at seasonally adjusted annual rates)
[Chart data—TXT]

A preliminary estimate of 2.9 percent had been reported on August 10, based on information available at that time. The productivity revision reflects a downward revision to output and an upward revision to hours.

Output in the nonfarm business sector grew at an annual rate of 3.5 percent in the second quarter, revised from a preliminary estimate of 3.8 percent. 

Hours of all persons were up 1.0 percent, following an initially reported estimate of 0.8 percent (seasonally adjusted annual rates).

These data are from the BLS Productivity and Costs program. Data are subject to revision. Additional information is available in "Productivity and Costs, Second Quarter 2004, Revised" (PDF) (TXT), news release USDL 04-1727.

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