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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 2.1 percent in the nonfarm business sector in the second quarter of 2021;
unit labor costs increased 1.3 percent (seasonally adjusted annual rates). In manufacturing,
productivity increased 8.0 percent and unit labor costs decreased 3.0 percent.
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Retail trade productivity increased 7.7 percent in 2020, the largest increase since measurement began in 1987. Wholesale trade productivity rose 3.6 percent, led by growth in nondurable goods industries. Unit labor costs fell in retail trade and increased in wholesale trade.
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Labor productivity fell in 13 of 29 service-providing industries in 2020.
Output decreased in 21 industries in 2020 while hours worked decreased in 24 industries.
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Labor productivity increased in 45 states and the District of Columbia in 2020. Output decreased in all 50 states and the District and hours worked decreased in all but 1 state.
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Labor productivity increased in 41 of the 86 NAICS 4-digit manufacturing industries and in 1 of the 4 mining industries in 2020. 80 percent of the industries recorded declines in both output and hours worked.
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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