Productivity and Costs by Industry: Wholesale Trade, Retail Trade, and Food Services and Drinking Places Industries, 2007
Internet: http://www.bls.gov/lpc/home.htm USDL 08-1184 Technical information: (202) 691-5618 For release: 10:00 a.m. EDT Media contact: (202) 691-5902 Thursday, August 21, 2008 PRODUCTIVITY AND COSTS BY INDUSTRY: WHOLESALE TRADE, RETAIL TRADE, AND FOOD SERVICES AND DRINKING PLACES INDUSTRIES, 2007 Labor productivity - defined as output per hour - increased in wholesale trade and retail trade, and fell in food services and drinking places in 2007 as follows: 2.1 percent in wholesale trade 3.7 percent in retail trade and -0.5 percent in food services and drinking places. Output grew in each of these sectors in 2007. Hours increased in wholesale trade and in food services and drinking places, and declined in retail trade. Productivity rose in 34 of the 50 detailed industries studied. (See table 1.) Unit labor costs declined in 22 of these industries, were unchanged in the retail trade sector, and increased in the wholesale trade and food services and drinking places sectors. From a longer term perspective, labor productivity increased at the following average annual rates between 1987 and 2007: 3.3 percent in wholesale trade 3.3 percent in retail trade and 0.6 percent in food services and drinking places. Output and hours increased in all of these sectors over the period. Productivity rose in 48 of the 50 detailed industries. (See table 2.) Unit labor costs fell in 17 industries and in the retail trade sector, but grew in the wholesale trade and food services and drinking places sectors during the period. 2006-2007 change Wholesale trade: Labor productivity increased 2.1 percent, as output grew 3.8 percent and hours rose 1.7 percent. Output per hour grew in 12 of the 19 detailed wholesale trade industries in 2007. Commercial equipment wholesalers (NAICS 4234) experienced the largest productivity gain, 13.7 percent. Unit labor costs fell in seven of the 19 detailed industries, but rose 1.9 percent in wholesale trade overall. Retail trade: Labor productivity grew 3.7 percent as output increased 3.0 percent while hours fell 0.6 percent. Output per hour rose in 20 of the 27 detailed retail trade industries in 2007. The largest increases in productivity occurred in lawn and garden equipment and supplies stores (NAICS 4442) and electronics and appliance stores (NAICS 4431), 17.3 percent and 14.3 percent, respectively. Although unit labor costs fell in 14 of the 27 industries studied, unit labor costs in the retail sector as a whole were unchanged. Food services and drinking places: Labor productivity fell 0.5 percent as output increased 1.7 percent and hours grew 2.2 percent. Two of the four industries in food services and drinking places registered productivity gains in 2007. The largest increase in productivity, 7.0 percent, occurred in drinking places (NAICS 7224). Unit labor costs grew in three of the four detailed industries and increased 4.6 percent in food services and drinking places overall. Long-term trends Wholesale trade: Labor productivity rose 3.3 percent per year, on average, between 1987 and 2007. Output increased 4.1 percent per year and hours grew 0.7 percent per year. Labor productivity rose in 17 of the 19 detailed industries. The fastest growth in output per hour occurred in commercial equipment wholesalers (NAICS 4234) and electric goods wholesalers (NAICS 4236), 15.6 percent and 8.9 percent per year, respectively. Unit labor costs rose in all but two of the wholesale trade industries over the period, and increased 0.9 percent per year overall in the wholesale trade sector. Retail trade: Labor productivity increased an average 3.3 percent per year from 1987 to 2007, while output rose 4.1 percent per year and hours grew 0.7 percent. Output per hour increased in all 27 detailed industries. Labor productivity rose the fastest in electronics and appliance stores (NAICS 4431), 13.4 percent per year, followed by electronic shopping and mail-order houses (NAICS 4541) at 12.2 percent per year. Unit labor costs declined in 15 of the 27 industries in this sector during the time period and declined 0.2 percent per year in retail trade overall. Food services and drinking places: Labor productivity grew 0.6 percent per year on average, as output increased 2.4 percent per year and hours grew 1.8 percent per year. Productivity increased in all of the food services and drinking places industries from 1987-2007. Unit labor costs also increased in each of the detailed industries, and rose 3.2 per year in food services and drinking places overall. Additional Information The measures in this news release incorporate current data from the Census Bureaus Monthly Wholesale Trade Survey (May 2008) and Monthly Retail Trade Survey (April 2008). Also included in this release are BLS employment and hours from the March 2008 Current Employment Statistics (CES) survey and wages from the July 2008 Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages. The measures replace the wholesale trade, retail trade, and food services and drinking places series published on the BLS website, in the news release Productivity and Costs by Industry: Wholesale Trade, Retail Trade, and Food Services and Drinking Places, 2006 (released August 28, 2007) and in table 50 of the Monthly Labor Review. All of the measures for 2007 in this release are preliminary and subject to revision. While the index numbers and rates of change reported by BLS in this news release are rounded to one decimal place, all industry productivity percent changes are calculated using index numbers to three decimal places. Industry productivity and cost measures are produced as data become available. Measures for industries in other sectors have been published in separate releases that can be accessed online at: http://www.bls.gov/schedule/archives/prin_nr.htm. Indexes and rates of change for all covered industries can be accessed electronically by visiting the Labor Productivity and Costs web site at http://www.bls.gov/lpc/#tables. Data on industry employment, hours, labor compensation, value of production, and the implicit price deflator for output for these industries are available upon request by calling the Division of Industry Productivity Studies (202-691-5618) or by sending a request by e-mail to dipsweb@bls.gov. Information in this report will be made available to sensory-impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: 202-691-5618; TDD message referral phone number: 1-800-877-8339.
- Technical note
- Table 1. Percent change in output per hour, output, hours, compensation, and unit labor costs, 2006-2007
- Table 2. Average annual percent change in output per hour, output, hours, compensation, and unit labor costs, 1987-2007
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Last Modified Date: August 21, 2008