March 01, 2005 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Japan had largest manufacturing productivity increase in 2003

An 11-percent increase in manufacturing productivity in Japan, measured by output per hour, was the largest among 14 economies compared using revised data for 2003.

[Chart data—TXT]

The increase in U.S. manufacturing productivity (a 9.7-percent gain) was the second highest.

Korea, Sweden, and the United Kingdom showed productivity gains of over 5 percent, while productivity was unchanged in Canada and declined in Italy.

These data are from the BLS Foreign Labor Statistics program. Data are subject to further revision. This article updates an article that appeared in The Editor’s Desk in 2004: "Korea had largest factory productivity gain in 2003". Additional information is available in "International Comparisons of Manufacturing Productivity and Unit Labor Cost Trends, Revised Data for 2003" (PDF) (TXT), news release USDL 05-308.