September 20, 1999 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)
Increasing skill levels now account for over a quarter of labor productivity growth
More than
one-fourth of the growth in labor productivity in the 1990s has been due
to rises in the skill levels of workers. This represents a dramatic change
from the 1970s, when skill change contributed almost nothing to labor
productivity growth.
[Chart data—TXT]
Labor productivity in the private business sector grew by 1.30 percent
per year on average between 1990 and 1997, and increasing skill levels
accounted for 0.41 percentage point of the growth. Between 1973 and 1979,
the growth rate of labor productivity was about the same as in the 1990s—1.27
percent per year—but increases in skills only explained 0.03 percentage
point of this growth.
For this analysis, skills are measured by the education and work
experience of individuals. Labor productivity is measured by output per
hour worked.
These data are a product of the BLS Multifactor
Productivityprogram. Find out more
in chapter 2 of Report
on the American Workforce 1999
(PDF 1,037K).
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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