March 09, 2001 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Fastest productivity growth ever in durable goods manufacturing last year

Labor productivity—as measured by output per hour—increased 10.5 percent in durable goods manufacturing in 2000. This was the largest increase in the 51-year history of this series.

[Chart data—TXT]

The gain in productivity in durable goods manufacturing reflected a 10.0-percent output increase and a decline of 0.5 percent in hours. In nondurable manufacturing, productivity rose 3.2 percent in 2000, as output grew 1.2 percent and hours of all persons declined 2.0 percent.

Overall, productivity in manufacturing grew 7.1 percent in 2000. As with durable goods, this was the largest increase recorded in the history of this measure.

These data are a product of the BLS Quarterly Labor Productivity program. Data are subject to revision. Additional information is available in "Productivity and Costs, Fourth Quarter 2000 (revised)," news release USDL 01-56.