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Labor productivity, which describes the relationship between real output and the labor hours involved in its production, rose in about half of the manufacturing and mining industries in 2015. In industries where output grew faster than the number of hours worked, labor productivity increased. In industries where the number of hours worked increased and output stayed the same or declined, labor productivity decreased.
Industry | Labor productivity | Output | Hours worked |
---|---|---|---|
Oil and gas extraction |
11.4 | 7.4 | -3.6 |
Petroleum and coal products |
7.0 | 4.6 | -2.3 |
Printing and related support activities |
4.2 | 3.5 | -0.7 |
Furniture and related products |
4.2 | 3.5 | -0.7 |
Computer and electronic products |
3.5 | 3.7 | 0.2 |
Nonmetallic mineral products |
1.9 | 3.0 | 1.1 |
Chemicals |
1.7 | 2.3 | 0.6 |
Machinery |
1.4 | -1.6 | -3.0 |
Plastics and rubber products |
1.2 | 3.1 | 1.9 |
Transportation equipment |
0.4 | 3.2 | 2.8 |
Apparel |
-0.1 | 0.1 | 0.2 |
Wood products |
-0.3 | 0.1 | 0.4 |
Paper |
-0.5 | -1.6 | -1.1 |
Fabricated metal products |
-0.6 | -1.4 | -0.8 |
Mining, except oil and gas |
-1.4 | -5.7 | -4.4 |
Beverages and tobacco products |
-1.8 | 1.2 | 3.1 |
Textile mills |
-2.0 | 0.0 | 2.1 |
Food |
-2.4 | 0.9 | 3.3 |
Textile product mills |
-2.7 | -0.3 | 2.5 |
Primary metals |
-3.0 | -6.4 | -3.5 |
Miscellaneous manufacturing |
-4.0 | -1.4 | 2.8 |
Electrical equipment and appliances |
-5.1 | -2.2 | 3.0 |
Leather and allied products |
-8.9 | -5.0 | 4.4 |
Labor productivity rose 11.4 percent in the oil and gas extraction industry, where output increased 7.4 percent and hours worked declined 3.6 percent. Output in mining, except oil and gas, declined 5.7 percent, which was a greater pace than hours worked, which declined 4.4 percent, resulting in a productivity decline of 1.4 percent.
Among manufacturing industries, labor productivity rose fastest in the petroleum and coal products industry, where output increased by 4.6 percent and hours worked declined 2.3 percent, resulting in a labor productivity increase of 7.0 percent.
These data are from the Productivity and Costs program. Additional information can be found in "Productivity and Costs by Industry: Manufacturing and Mining Industries, 2015" (HTML) (PDF).
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Oil and gas extraction productivity up 11.4 percent in 2015 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2016/oil-and-gas-extraction-productivity-up-11-point-4-percent-in-2015.htm (visited October 05, 2024).