Multifactor productivity in private nonfarm business, 2008

Private nonfarm business sector multifactor productivity—output per combined units of labor and capital inputs—increased at a 0.1 percent annual rate in 2008. This was the slowest gain in multifactor productivity since 1995.

[Chart data]

The modest multifactor productivity gain in 2008 reflected a 0.2-percent decrease in output and a 0.3-percent decrease in the combined inputs of capital and labor. Capital services grew by 2.8 percent, the slowest rate of growth since 2004. Labor input fell 1.7 percent, the largest decline since 2002.

These data are from the Multifactor Productivity program. A change in multifactor productivity reflects the change in output that cannot be accounted for by the change in combined inputs of labor and capital. To learn more, see "Multifactor Productivity Trends, 2008," news release USDL-10-1171 (HTML) (PDF).