Department of Labor Logo United States Department of Labor
Dot gov

The .gov means it's official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you're on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Labor productivity up in 21 of the 23 manufacturing and mining industries over 1987–2017 period

May 14, 2018

Over the 1987–2017 period, labor productivity rose in 21 of the 23 NAICS 3-digit manufacturing and mining industries. Computer and electronic products recorded a productivity increase of 8.4 percent, the largest productivity gain among these industries over this period. Apparel and beverages and tobacco products experienced productivity declines.

Labor productivity, percent change by industry, 2016–17 and 1987–2017
Industry 2016–17 1987–2017

Apparel

-2.5 -0.6

Beverages and tobacco products

-9.2 -0.4

Textile product mills

-3.9 0.5

Food

-2.8 0.7

Leather and allied products

-1.7 0.8

Nonmetallic mineral products

-3.9 0.8

Fabricated metal products

-1.4 0.8

Wood products

-1.7 1.0

Printing and related support activities

0.0 1.2

Chemicals

-2.5 1.3

Furniture and related products

-4.0 1.3

Mining, except oil and gas

2.9 1.5

Plastics and rubber products

-3.9 1.5

Electrical equipment and appliances

-4.8 1.6

Paper

0.6 1.7

Machinery

2.6 1.7

Miscellaneous manufacturing

-1.5 1.7

Petroleum and coal products

0.7 2.3

Transportation equipment

-4.4 2.3

Oil and gas extraction

32.6 2.5

Primary metals

3.6 2.5

Textile mills

3.2 3.0

Computer and electronic products

-1.1 8.4

From 2016 to 2017, labor productivity decreased in 15 of the 21 NAICS 3-digit manufacturing industries. The primary metals industry had the largest productivity gain, 3.6 percent. The beverage and tobacco products industry had the largest productivity decline, 9.2 percent. Among the two NAICS 3-digit mining industries, labor productivity rose by 32.6 percent in oil and gas extraction, and 2.9 percent in mining, except oil and gas.

These data are from the Labor Productivity and Costs program. Data are preliminary and may be revised. To learn more, see "Productivity and Costs by Industry: Manufacturing and Mining Industries — 2017" (HTML) (PDF). To learn more about labor productivity, see Productivity 101.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Labor productivity up in 21 of the 23 manufacturing and mining industries over 1987–2017 period at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2018/labor-productivity-up-in-21-of-the-23-manufacturing-and-mining-industries-over-1987-2017-period.htm (visited October 06, 2024).

OF INTEREST
spotlight
Recent editions of Spotlight on Statistics



triangle