February 19, 2003 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Rapid productivity growth in prepackaged software industry

Between 1990 and 2000, output per hour in the prepackaged software industry increased at a much faster rate than in the five other service-sector industries for which BLS has new productivity statistics.

[Chart data—TXT]

Output per hour in the prepackaged software industry rose rapidly during the 1990-2000 period, increasing at an average annual rate of 14.2 percent. This increase reflected an average annual increase of 26.5 percent in output and a 10.7-percent increase in hours of all persons.

The rapid growth in the prepackaged software industry can be attributed to the increased use of computers and the rising demand for reliable, user-friendly software.

In addition to the prepackaged software industry, BLS recently published new productivity statistics for local trucking, without storage; public warehousing and storage; advertising agencies; truck rental and leasing; and passenger car rental.

These data are a product of the BLS Productivity and Costs program. Data are subject to revision. Find out more information in "New Transportation and Service Productivity Measures," (PDF 86K) Report 964.