Nonfarm business labor productivity, first quarter 2012

From the first quarter of 2011 to the first quarter of 2012, labor productivity increased 0.5 percent in the nonfarm business sector, as output and hours worked rose 2.8 percent and 2.2 percent, respectively.

[Chart data]

Unit labor costs in nonfarm businesses rose 2.1 percent from the first quarter of 2011 to the first quarter of 2012.

Manufacturing sector productivity increased 2.5 percent from the first quarter of 2011 to the first quarter of 2012. Unit labor costs in manufacturing decreased 1.3 percent from the same quarter a year ago.

These data, from the Labor Productivity and Costs program, are seasonally adjusted and are subject to revision. To learn more, see "Productivity and Costs — First Quarter 2012, Preliminary" (HTML) (PDF), news release USDL-12-0815. Labor productivity, or output per hour, is calculated by dividing an index of real output by an index of hours of all persons, including employees, proprietors, and unpaid family workers. Unit labor costs are the ratio of hourly compensation to labor productivity.