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Labor productivity relates output to the labor hours used in the production of that output. Two BLS programs produce labor productivity and costs (LPC) measures for sectors of the U.S. economy.
The Major Sector Productivity program publishes quarterly and annual measures of output per hour and unit labor costs for the U.S. business, nonfarm business, and manufacturing sectors. These are the productivity statistics most often cited by the national media.
The Industry Productivity program publishes annual measures of output per hour and unit labor costs for U.S. industries.
March 03, 2011
Productivity rose 2.6 percent in the nonfarm business sector in fourth
quarter 2010; unit labor costs declined 0.6 percent (seasonally adjusted
annual rates). Annual average productivity increased 3.9 percent from 2009
to 2010.
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March 23, 2011
Labor productivity rose in 28 percent of the detailed manufacturing industries
studied in 2009, down from 38 percent in 2008 and 56 percent in 2007. Output
and hours declined at double-digit rates in over 7 out of 10 industries studied.
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August 31, 2010
Labor productivity (output per hour) fell in wholesale trade, but rose in retail trade
and in food services and drinking places in 2009. Unit labor costs declined in retail
trade but rose in wholesale trade and in food services and drinking places. Productivity
rose in nearly 60 percent of the 50 detailed industries studied.
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July 09, 2010
Labor productivity rose in 46 percent of the 138 detailed manufacturing, mining, and service-providing industries studied in 2008, down from 62 percent the previous year. Output fell and hours declined in more industries in 2008 than in 2007. Unit labor costs declined in 30 percent of the industries.
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Archived
Tables
Major Sector Data
Industry Data
Technical Notes
- "Technical Information About the Major Sector Productivity and Costs Methods" (HTML) (PDF 58 KB) This document describes the labor productivity measures that BLS publishes for the major sectors of the U.S. economy, as well as the methodology used to calculate these measures. February 2008.
- "Industry Employment and Hours" (HTML) , June 2010.
- Note on the Differences Between the /Quarterly Hourly Compensation Measures and the Employment Cost Index (ECI), January 2007.
- Construction of Employment and Hours for Self-employed and other Nonfarm workers and for all Farm workers, using Current Population Survey data for primary and secondary jobs." (PDF), March 2006.
- "Construction of Average Weekly Hours for Supervisory and Nonproduction Wage and Salary Workers in Detailed Industries" (PDF), August 2005.
- "Construction of average weekly hours for supervisory and nonproduction wage and salary workers in private nonfarm establishments" (PDF), October 2004.
- "Hours at work ratios derived from the Employment Cost Index, 2001-2003" (PDF), Brief description of the Bureau of Labor Statistics new ratios of hours at work to hours paid and reasons for the discontinuation of the Hours at Work Survey.
Publications
- "The compensation-productivity gap: a visual essay,"(PDF 406K) by Susan Fleck, John Glaser and Shawn Sprague, Monthly Labor Review, January 2011, pp. 57-69
- "Bringing work home: implications for BLS productivity measures," (PDF), by Lucy P. Eldridge and Sabrina Wulff Pabilonia, Monthly Labor Review, December 2010, pp. 18-35.
- "Productivity trends in business cycles: a visual essay,"(PDF 221K) by Michael Chernousov, Susan E. Fleck, and John Glaser, Monthly Labor Review, June 2009, pp. 50-63.
- "Effects of imported intermediate inputs on productivity,"(PDF), by Lucy P. Eldridge and Michael J. Harper, Monthly Labor Review, June 2010, pp. 3-15.
- "New Service Industry Productivity Measures," (PDF 31K) Report 993, February 2006
- "Industry productivity trends under the North American Industry Classification system" (PDF 87K), by Matthew Russell, Paul Takac, and Lisa Usher, Monthly Labor Review, November 2004, pp.31-42.
- "New Service Industry Productivity Measures," (PDF 30K) Report 979, September 2004.
- "Alternative measures of supervisory employee hours and productivity growth" (PDF 273K), by Lucy P. Eldridge, Marilyn E. Manser, and Phyllis Flohr Otto, Monthly Labor Review, April 2004.
- "The Effect of Outsourcing and Offshoring on BLS Productivity Measures" (PDF 32K), March 26, 2004.
- "New Transportation and Service Productivity Measures", (PDF 38K) Report 964, January 2003.
- "Unit Labor Costs for Selected Industries, 1987-97," (PDF 86K) Report 939, November 1999.
- "BLS completes major expansion of industry productivity series, (PDF 300K) by John Duke and Lisa Usher, Monthly Labor Review, September 1998, pp. 35-51.
- "The BLS Productivity Measurement Program," (PDF 95K), by Edwin R. Dean and Michael J. Harper, Discussion Paper presented at the Conference on Research in Income and Wealth: New Directions in Productivity Research, March 20-21, 1998.
- "Improvements to the Quarterly Productivity Measures" (PDF 400K), by Edwin R. Dean, Michael J. Harper, and Phyllis Flohr Otto, Monthly Labor Review, October 1995.
- Archive of MLR Articles on Productivity and Technology.
Other BLS Programs
Other Useful Links
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Latest Numbers
Nonfarm Business Sector:
Output per Hour
+2.6% in 4th Qtr of 2010
Hourly Compensation
+2.0% in 4th Qtr of 2010
Unit Labor Costs
-0.6% in 4th Qtr of 2010
Output
+4.0% in 4th Qtr of 2010
Hours of All Persons
+1.4% in 4th Qtr of 2010
Manufacturing Sector:
Output per Hour
+5.9% in 4th Qtr of 2010
Hourly Compensation
+3.1% in 4th Qtr of 2010
Unit Labor Costs
-2.7% in 4th Qtr of 2010
Output
+4.4% in 4th Qtr of 2010
Hours of All Persons
-1.4% in 4th Qtr of 2010
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