November 7, 2008 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Productivity growth in third quarter 2008

During the third quarter of 2008, productivity—as measured by output per hour—increased at a revised seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.1 percent in the nonfarm business sector. Output and hours fell 1.7 percent and 2.7 percent, respectively.

Productivity and related measures, nonfarm business, second and third quarter 2008(quarterly percent change at seasonally adjusted annual rates)
[Chart data—TXT]

The decline in output was the largest since third-quarter 2001. The drop in hours was the largest since the first quarter of 2002.

Over the last four quarters, nonfarm business output per hour increased 2.0 percent; output rose 0.3 percent, and hours fell 1.7 percent. From 2000 to 2007, nonfarm productivity increased at a 2.5-percent average annual rate, as output grew 2.5 percent and hours edged up 0.1 percent on average.

These data are from the BLS Productivity and Costs program. Data in this report are seasonally adjusted annual rates. These estimates are subject to revision. Additional information is available in "Productivity and Costs, Third Quarter 2008, Preliminary," (PDF) (HTML) news release USDL 08-1616.