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Nonfarm business labor productivity up 2.1 percent in second quarter 2021
September 07, 2021
Nonfarm business labor productivity increased 2.1 percent in the second quarter of 2021, as output increased 8.1 percent and hours worked increased 6.0 percent.
Nonfarm business productivity, output, and hours worked, percent change from previous quarter at annual rate, second quarter 2011–second quarter 2021
Quarter
Labor productivity (output per hour)
Output
Hours worked
Q2 2011
0.5%
4.2%
3.7%
Q3 2011
-1.3
0.2
1.5
Q4 2011
2.8
5.9
3.0
Q1 2012
1.8
5.1
3.2
Q2 2012
1.7
2.6
0.9
Q3 2012
-0.4
1.2
1.6
Q4 2012
-1.3
0.8
2.1
Q1 2013
2.2
3.8
1.6
Q2 2013
-1.3
0.2
1.6
Q3 2013
1.9
4.2
2.3
Q4 2013
2.8
4.2
1.3
Q1 2014
-4.0
-2.1
1.9
Q2 2014
3.9
6.8
2.8
Q3 2014
3.6
6.4
2.7
Q4 2014
-2.2
2.3
4.6
Q1 2015
3.5
4.0
0.5
Q2 2015
1.1
3.0
1.8
Q3 2015
-0.1
1.3
1.4
Q4 2015
-1.6
0.4
2.0
Q1 2016
1.4
2.7
1.3
Q2 2016
-0.3
1.2
1.5
Q3 2016
1.6
2.8
1.2
Q4 2016
2.3
2.8
0.4
Q1 2017
0.4
1.9
1.6
Q2 2017
-0.3
2.8
3.1
Q3 2017
3.2
3.8
0.6
Q4 2017
1.7
4.7
2.9
Q1 2018
1.2
3.6
2.4
Q2 2018
1.6
3.9
2.2
Q3 2018
1.1
2.2
1.1
Q4 2018
0.1
1.1
1.0
Q1 2019
3.4
3.4
0.0
Q2 2019
4.3
3.6
-0.7
Q3 2019
0.8
3.2
2.4
Q4 2019
0.6
1.8
1.2
Q1 2020
-1.8
-7.4
-5.7
Q2 2020
11.2
-36.9
-43.2
Q3 2020
4.6
44.6
38.2
Q4 2020
-3.4
6.2
9.9
Q1 2021
4.3
8.4
4.0
Q2 2021
2.1
8.1
6.0
The second quarter of 2021 is the fourth consecutive quarter with increases in both output and hours worked, following historic declines in those measures in the second quarter of 2020.
These measures are based on more recent source data than were available for the preliminary report released earlier. The 2.1 percent productivity increase in nonfarm business sector in the second quarter of 2021 is a 0.2-percentage point downward revision from the preliminary estimate of 2.3 percent. This reflects a 0.2-percentage point upward revision to output and a 0.5-percentage point upward revision to hours worked.
United States Department of Labor
