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Productivity up 0.6 percent for the year ending first quarter 2016
May 13, 2016
From the first quarter of 2015 to the first quarter of 2016, nonfarm business sector labor productivity increased 0.6 percent, as output rose 2.2 percent and hours worked rose 1.6 percent. Manufacturing productivity increased 1.5 percent over the year, with output rising 0.7 percent and hours worked falling 0.8 percent.
Labor productivity and unit labor costs, nonfarm business sector and manufacturing, percent change from same quarter in previous year, 2006–16
Quarter
Productivity, nonfarm business
Productivity, manufacturing
Unit labor costs, nonfarm business
Unit labor costs, manufacturing
Q1 2006
1.3%
3.5%
3.2%
0.0%
Q2 2006
1.3
2.3
2.7
-0.7
Q3 2006
0.2
3.3
2.8
-2.2
Q4 2006
0.9
4.0
3.2
-0.2
Q1 2007
0.4
4.4
4.1
-0.5
Q2 2007
1.1
5.8
3.3
-1.1
Q3 2007
2.7
6.5
1.8
-2.0
Q4 2007
2.3
8.1
1.5
-4.5
Q1 2008
1.2
9.4
1.1
-7.3
Q2 2008
1.6
7.1
0.9
-4.8
Q3 2008
0.7
3.0
2.4
0.1
Q4 2008
-0.4
-3.8
3.4
8.5
Q1 2009
1.4
-10.0
-1.9
14.0
Q2 2009
2.3
-10.2
-0.4
16.5
Q3 2009
3.6
-6.3
-1.8
10.6
Q4 2009
5.5
-0.3
-4.0
2.9
Q1 2010
5.2
7.6
-2.0
-5.3
Q2 2010
3.6
12.4
-1.8
-9.9
Q3 2010
2.6
11.6
-1.1
-9.5
Q4 2010
1.8
11.0
-0.4
-9.1
Q1 2011
0.5
9.2
3.4
-4.7
Q2 2011
0.4
5.4
1.7
-3.5
Q3 2011
-0.3
5.1
2.6
-3.0
Q4 2011
0.1
2.9
0.5
-3.4
Q1 2012
1.1
1.7
0.1
-0.8
Q2 2012
1.3
1.3
0.9
0.4
Q3 2012
1.3
-0.4
0.4
1.5
Q4 2012
0.0
0.4
5.6
3.0
Q1 2013
-0.1
0.5
1.0
-0.8
Q2 2013
-0.8
1.3
2.5
-0.8
Q3 2013
-0.2
1.0
2.1
-0.1
Q4 2013
1.2
0.0
-1.3
-0.2
Q1 2014
0.4
-0.4
3.4
3.7
Q2 2014
1.0
-0.6
0.9
2.4
Q3 2014
1.5
0.2
1.1
2.1
Q4 2014
0.1
0.4
2.8
3.2
Q1 2015
0.7
-0.1
1.2
0.9
Q2 2015
0.9
-0.1
2.6
2.7
Q3 2015
0.6
0.6
2.7
2.4
Q4 2015
0.6
0.6
1.9
1.7
Q1 2016
0.6
1.5
2.3
1.6
From the first quarter of 2015 to the first quarter of 2016, unit labor costs in the nonfarm business sector increased 2.3 percent. Unit labor costs in manufacturing increased 1.6 percent over the same period.
These data are from the BLS Labor Productivity and Costs program. All quarterly percent changes shown are subject to revision. To learn more, see “Productivity and Costs — First Quarter 2016, Preliminary,” (HTML) (PDF). Labor productivity, or output per hour, is calculated by dividing an index of real output by an index of hours worked for all persons, including employees, proprietors, and unpaid family workers. Unit labor costs are the ratio of hourly compensation to labor productivity. Increases in hourly compensation raise unit labor costs, and increases in output per hour reduce unit labor costs.
United States Department of Labor
