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Output down 11.2 percent, hours worked down 13.6 percent from 2019

September 11, 2020

From the second quarter of 2019 to the second quarter of 2020, nonfarm business output decreased 11.2 percent and hours worked decreased 13.6 percent, resulting in a 2.8-percent increase in productivity.

Chart Image
Chart Data

Nonfarm business labor productivity (output per hour), output, and hours worked indexes
Quarter	Output	Hours worked	Labor productivity (output per hour)
Q2 2015	100.0	100.0	100.0
Q3 2015	100.4	100.1	100.3
Q4 2015	100.4	100.7	99.7
Q1 2016	101.1	101.1	99.9
Q2 2016	101.4	101.4	99.9
Q3 2016	102.0	101.7	100.2
Q4 2016	102.8	102.0	100.9
Q1 2017	103.4	102.3	101.1
Q2 2017	104.0	102.9	101.1
Q3 2017	105.0	103.2	101.7
Q4 2017	106.2	104.0	102.0
Q1 2018	107.3	104.5	102.6
Q2 2018	108.1	105.0	102.9
Q3 2018	108.7	105.5	103.0
Q4 2018	109.1	105.7	103.2
Q1 2019	110.1	105.7	104.2
Q2 2019	110.4	105.5	104.7
Q3 2019	111.2	106.2	104.8
Q4 2019	112.0	106.5	105.2
Q1 2020	110.2	104.8	105.1
Q2 2020	98.1	91.1	107.7

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These data are from the Labor Productivity and Costs program. To learn more, see Productivity and Costs — Second Quarter 2020, Revised. Also see Charts related to the latest "Productivity and Costs" news release. Labor productivity, or output per hour, is calculated by dividing an index of real output by an index of hours worked by all persons, including employees, proprietors, and unpaid family workers. BLS calculates unit labor costs as the ratio of hourly compensation to labor productivity.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Output down 11.2 percent, hours worked down 13.6 percent from 2019 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2020/output-down-11-2-percent-hours-worked-down-13-point-6-percent-from-2019.htm (visited October 10, 2024).

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