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Labor productivity is a measure of economic performance that compares the amount of goods and services produced (output) with the number of hours worked to produce those goods and services. The BLS also publishes measures of multifactor productivity.
Productivity increased 4.6 percent in the nonfarm business sector in the third quarter of 2020;
unit labor costs decreased 6.6 percent (seasonally adjusted annual rates). In manufacturing,
productivity increased 19.9 percent and unit labor costs decreased 12.1 percent.
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Retail trade productivity increased 5.3 percent in 2019, the largest increase since 1999. Wholesale trade productivity rose 0.4 percent, carried by growth in nondurable goods industries. Unit labor costs fell in retail trade and increased in wholesale trade.
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Labor productivity decreased in 54 of the 86 NAICS 4-digit manufacturing industries and in all 4 mining industries in 2019. More than half the industries with declining productivity had growth in hours coupled with declining output.
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Labor productivity rose in 14 of 29 service-providing industries in 2019.
Output increased in 17 industries in 2019 while hours worked increased in 18 industries.
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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. March 2006. (PDF)
Construction of Average Weekly Hours for Supervisory and Nonproduction Wage and Salary Workers in Private Nonfarm Establishments. October 2004. (PDF)
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.
Industry Productivity Program
BLS Handbook of Methods, Chapter 11 Industry Productivity Measures (PDF)
Beginning with the Productivity and Costs news release scheduled for March 8, 2017, an improvement in the methodology for estimating hours worked will be implemented. For more information see: https://www.bls.gov/lpc/hwhpnew.htm.
Data for private community hospitals (Industry 622A) were updated for 2014 on May 18, 2017. These changes have been incorporated into the Labor Productivity and Costs by Industry Tables and the Labor Productivity and Costs by Industry Chart Dashboard. The private community hospitals data were originally added on October 16, 2015.
Multifactor Productivity--annual indexes for industries and major sectors of the economy that relate output to labor, capital, and--in some cases--other inputs
Productivity Research and Program Development works on strengthening and improving Bureau productivity measures and on understanding the sources and effects of productivity and technical change. The Division works on clarifying input and output concepts, using methods from microeconomic and macroeconomic theory, labor economics, industrial organization, econometrics, and statistics.
International Labor Comparisons--comparative information by country on productivity and unit labor costs; compensation; labor force, employment, and unemployment; and consumer prices.
International Technical Cooperation --conducts training in labor statistics for international participants and coordinates international requests for BLS services including technical experts and short-term visits to BLS.
United States Department of Labor
Historical Data
News Release