May 08, 2003 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Rise in manufacturing productivity in first quarter

Productivity in manufacturing—as measured by output per hour—increased at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 2.1 percent in the first quarter of 2003.

Manufacturing productivity and costs: Preliminary first-quarter 2003 measures (seasonally adjusted annual rates)
[Chart data—TXT]

Output decreased 0.6 percent and hours of all persons declined 2.6 percent in the first quarter. Productivity had fallen 0.5 percent in the fourth quarter of 2002, as output decreased 3.7 percent and hours declined 3.2 percent.

These data are from the BLS Productivity and Costs program. Data are subject to revision. Additional information is available in "Productivity and Costs, First Quarter 2003" (PDF) (TXT), news release USDL 03-202.