March 25, 2011 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)
Productivity in manufacturing industries, 2009
In 2009, labor productivity—defined as output per hour—rose in 28 percent of the 86 detailed (4-digit) NAICS manufacturing industries studied by the Bureau of Labor Statistics—down from an increase of 38 percent of detailed manufacturing industries in 2008 and 56 percent in 2007.
[Chart data]
In 2009, productivity increased the most in seafood product preparation and packaging, and in agricultural chemical manufacturing. In both industries, hours declined while output increased. Productivity fell the most in audio and video equipment manufacturing, where output declined much more than hours.
Output rose in 7 of the 86 industries in 2009, while hours increased in only one (fruit and vegetable preserving and specialty). Output and hours declined at double-digit rates in over 7 out of 10 industries studied.
Between 1987 and 2009, labor productivity increased in 93 percent of detailed manufacturing industries.
These data are from the Productivity and Costs program. Additional information can be found in "Productivity and Costs by Industry: Manufacturing Industries, 2009" (HTML) (PDF), news release USDL-11-0395. The productivity measures reflect data classified according to the 2007 North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). All of the measures for 2009 are preliminary and subject to revision.
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