February 18, 1999 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)
Factory unit labor costs rise
for first time in five years
Labor costs per unit of output in manufacturing rose 0.2
percent in 1998, the first increase in unit labor costs since 1993. The increase was the
result of a slowing of the rate of productivity growth in manufacturing, coupled with a
moderate increase in the growth of hourly compensation.
[Chart data—TXT]
The hourly compensation of manufacturing workers rose 4.5 percent in 1998, and their
productivity increased 4.3 percent [revised to 4.2 percent on
3/10/99]. The compensation rise was the largest since a 5.3-percent rise in
1991.
During the past few years, the durable and nondurable goods components of manufacturing
have experienced sharply differing labor cost trends. Unit labor costs in durable goods
manufacturing fell 2.5 percent in 1998, the seventh consecutive drop in unit labor costs
in this sector. In contrast, unit labor costs in nondurable goods have increased every
year since 1992. In 1998, these costs rose 3.8 percent [revised to
3.9 percent on 3/10/99].
These data are a product of the BLS Quarterly Labor Productivity program. Additional information is available
from news release USDL 99-32, "Productivity
and Costs: Preliminary Fourth-Quarter Measures and Annual Averages, 1998."
Of interest
Spotlight on Statistics: National Hispanic Heritage Month
In this Spotlight, we take a look at the Hispanic labor force—including labor force participation, employment and unemployment, educational attainment, geographic location, country of birth, earnings, consumer expenditures, time use, workplace injuries, and employment projections.
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Read more »