March 10, 2000 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)
Manufacturing productivity surges in fourth quarter
In the fourth quarter of 1999, productivity in
the manufacturing sector —as measured by output per hour of all persons—rose
at a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 10.3 percent. The fourth-quarter
productivity increase was the largest since the second quarter of 1982. On
an annual basis, manufacturing productivity rose 6.4 percent in 1999,
marking 20 consecutive years of labor productivity increases in this
sector.
![Growth in output per hour of all persons, manufacturing sector, seasonally adjusted, 1998-99 (percent change from previous quarter at annual rate)](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20120925012454im_/http://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/images/2000/Mar/wk1/art05.gif)
[Chart data—TXT]
Manufacturing output increased at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of
6.6 percent in the last quarter of 1999. In contrast, hours of all persons
dropped 3.3 percent.
Double-digit productivity growth rates occurred in both of the
manufacturing subsectors in the last quarter. In durable goods,
productivity increased 10.8 percent in the fourth quarter, as output grew
6.6 percent and hours of all persons fell 3.7 percent. In nondurable
goods, productivity grew 10.0 percent, reflecting a 7.1 percent rise in
output and a 2.7 percent decline in hours.
These data are a product of the BLS Quarterly
Labor Productivityprogram. Data in
this article are revised from the figures originally released on February
8, 2000, and are subject to further revision. Additional information is
available in "Productivity
and Costs, Fourth Quarter and Annual Averages, 1999,"
news release USDL 00-64.
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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