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.
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.
Productivity and Costs by Industry: Manufacturing Industries News Release
For release 10:00 a.m. (EDT) Thursday, March 21, 2013 USDL-13-0478
Technical information: (202) 691-5618 • dipsweb@bls.gov • www.bls.gov/lpc
Media contact: (202) 691-5902 • PressOffice@bls.gov
PRODUCTIVITY AND COSTS BY INDUSTRY:
MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES, 2011
Labor productivity -- defined as output per hour -- rose in 63 percent of detailed manufacturing
industries in 2011, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. This was down from 78 percent
in 2010. Unit labor costs, which reflect the total labor costs required to produce a unit of output,
declined in 49 percent of the industries in 2011 compared to 71 percent in 2010. Two-thirds of the
industries with productivity increases posted declines in unit labor costs.
Fewer industries recorded gains in output in 2011 than in the previous year, while more industries posted
gains in hours. (See table 1.) Output rose in 54 of the 86 NAICS 4-digit manufacturing
industries in 2011, down from 60 industries in 2010. Hours rose in 51 of the industries in 2011 compared
to 41 in 2010. Hours rose in more industries in 2011 than in any year since 1997.
Almost 70 percent of industries with productivity growth had gains greater than 2.5 percent.
Productivity rose 10 percent or more in 5 industries: audio and video equipment, accessories and other
apparel, leather and hide tanning and finishing, textile furnishings mills, and electric lighting equipment.
Industry labor productivity measures are updated and revised as new data become available. The latest
industry productivity data for manufacturing industries and industries in other sectors are available on
the BLS Industry Labor Productivity and Costs website at www.bls.gov/lpc/iprprodydata.htm.
A larger number of the detailed industries posted productivity gains over the 1987-2011 period than in
2011. Between 1987 and 2011, labor productivity increased in 95 percent of the industries,
with 86 percent recording gains from 0.1 to 4.0 percent. In 2011, industry productivity performance was
more evenly distributed, with slightly over one-third of industries posting productivity declines.
Labor productivity increased in 13 of the 21 NAICS 3-digit manufacturing industries in 2011, as output
increased in 16 industries and hours fell in 10. Productivity rose fastest in textile product mills, where output
increased despite a drop in hours. Only 3 of the 21 industries registered greater productivity growth, or
smaller productivity declines, than in the previous year.
Unit labor costs fell in 10 of the 21 NAICS 3-digit industries. Unit labor costs declined more frequently
in industries where productivity rose, as productivity gains offset increases in hourly compensation. Unit
labor costs fell in 9 of the 13 industries where productivity rose.
The measures in this news release incorporate 2011 data and revisions to 2010 data from the Annual
Survey of Manufactures (ASM) published by the Census Bureau and the annual benchmark revision of
the BLS Current Employment Statistics (CES) survey published in February 2013. All of the measures
for 2011 in this release are preliminary and subject to revision.
The industries included in this news release are classified according to the 2007 NAICS. While the rates
of change reported by BLS in this release are rounded to one decimal place, all percent changes are
calculated using index numbers rounded to three decimal places.
Year-to-year movements in industry productivity may be erratic, particularly in smaller industries. The
annual measures based on sample data may differ from measures generated by a census of
establishments in the industry. Annual changes in an industry’s output and use of labor may reflect
cyclical changes in the economy as well as long-term trends. As a result, long-term productivity trends
tend to be more reliable indicators of industry performance than year-to-year changes.
More detailed data, including industry productivity and related indexes; rates of change; and levels of
industry employment, hours, nominal value of production, and labor compensation are available on the
BLS Labor Productivity and Costs website at www.bls.gov/lpc. Additional information can be obtained
by calling the Division of Industry Productivity Studies (202-691-5618) or by sending a request by
e-mail to dipsweb@bls.gov. Information in this report will be made available to sensory-impaired
individuals upon request. Voice phone: 202-691-5618; TDD message referral phone number: 1-800-877-
8339.
Customers can subscribe to the industry productivity program’s news releases on the BLS website at
https://subscriptions.bls.gov/accounts/USDOLBLS/subscriber/new.
Technical Note
Labor Productivity: The industry labor productivity measures describe the relationship between
industry output and the labor time involved in its production. They show the changes from period to
period in the amount of goods and services produced per hour. Although the labor productivity measures
relate output to hours of all persons in an industry, they do not measure the specific contribution of labor
or any other factor of production. Rather, they reflect the joint effects of many influences, including
changes in technology; capital investment; utilization of capacity, energy, and materials; the use of
purchased services inputs, including contract employment services; the organization of production;
managerial skill; and the characteristics and effort of the workforce.
Output: Industry output is measured as an annual-weighted index of the changes in the various
products (in real terms) provided for sale outside the industry. Real industry output is usually derived by
deflating nominal sales or values of production using BLS price indexes, but for some industries it is
measured by physical quantities of output. For manufacturing industries, industry output reflects sectoral
value of production, derived by adjusting shipments for changes in inventories and removing intra-
industry transactions.
Industry output measures are constructed primarily using data from the economic censuses and annual
surveys of the Census Bureau, U.S. Department of Commerce, together with information on price
changes primarily from BLS.
Labor Hours: The primary source of industry employment and hours data is the BLS Current
Employment Statistics (CES) survey. The CES provides monthly data on the number of total and
production worker jobs held by wage and salary workers in nonfarm establishments as well as data on
the average weekly hours of production workers in those establishments. CES data are supplemented
with data from the Current Population Survey (CPS) to estimate employment and hours of self-
employed and unpaid family workers in each industry. Data from the CPS, together with the CES data,
are also used to estimate the historical average weekly hours of nonproduction workers for each industry.
CES and CPS data are supplemented or further disaggregated for some industries using data from the
BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW), the Census Bureau, or other sources. Hours
of all persons in an industry are treated as homogeneous and are directly aggregated.
Unit Labor Costs: Unit labor costs represent the cost of labor required to produce one unit of output.
The unit labor cost indexes are computed by dividing an index of industry labor compensation by an
index of real industry output. Unit labor costs also describe the relationship between hourly
compensation and labor productivity (real output per hour) and are an indicator of inflationary pressures
on producers. Increases in hourly compensation increase unit labor costs; increases in labor productivity
offset compensation increases and lower unit labor costs.
Labor Compensation: Labor compensation, defined as payroll plus supplemental payments, is a
measure of the cost to the employer of securing the services of labor. Payroll includes salaries, wages,
commissions, dismissal pay, bonuses, vacation and sick leave pay, and compensation in kind.
Supplemental payments include legally required expenditures and payments for voluntary programs. The
legally required portion consists primarily of Federal old age and survivors’ insurance, unemployment
compensation, and workers’ compensation. Payments for voluntary programs include all programs not
specifically required by legislation, such as the employer portion of private health insurance and pension
plans.
Table 1. Percent change in output per hour, unit labor costs, and related data, 2010-2011
Industry
NAICS code
2011 Employment (thousands)
Percent change, 2010-2011
Output per Hour
Output
Hours
Labor compensation
Unit labor costs
Manufacturing
Food
311
1,493.4
-0.1
-0.4
-0.3
0.8
1.3
Animal food
3111
52.1
-7.1
-3.3
4.1
2.1
5.7
Grain and oilseed milling
3112
59.4
-8.1
-6.3
2.0
1.1
7.9
Sugar and confectionery products
3113
68.2
-7.0
-0.9
6.5
1.8
2.7
Fruit and vegetable preserving and specialty
3114
172.8
2.5
-0.2
-2.6
0.6
0.8
Dairy products
3115
133.9
-3.2
-0.5
2.7
0.9
1.4
Animal slaughtering and processing
3116
493.1
3.2
1.6
-1.6
-0.1
-1.7
Seafood product preparation and packaging
3117
38.5
-2.7
-2.3
0.5
7.7
10.2
Bakeries and tortilla manufacturing
3118
304.9
0.7
-0.4
-1.1
0.2
0.6
Other food products
3119
170.5
2.4
2.3
0.0
2.2
-0.2
Beverages and tobacco products
312
191.9
-5.7
1.2
7.4
2.9
1.7
Beverages
3121
176.2
-4.1
3.7
8.2
3.9
0.3
Tobacco and tobacco products
3122
15.7
-3.7
-4.7
-1.0
-2.7
2.0
Textile mills
313
129.1
-1.9
-2.1
-0.1
0.6
2.7
Fiber, yarn, and thread mills
3131
29.4
-10.4
-9.1
1.5
-4.4
5.2
Fabric mills
3132
61.5
-1.2
-0.6
0.6
1.6
2.2
Textile and fabric finishing and coating mills
3133
38.2
2.9
0.1
-2.7
2.4
2.3
Textile product mills
314
125.1
6.6
1.2
-5.1
0.0
-1.2
Textile furnishings mills
3141
56.9
12.1
3.8
-7.4
-0.7
-4.3
Other textile product mills
3149
68.2
0.8
-2.1
-2.9
0.7
2.9
Apparel
315
168.8
1.0
-2.8
-3.7
-3.3
-0.5
Apparel knitting mills
3151
22.7
-6.1
-15.7
-10.3
-8.8
8.2
Cut and sew apparel
3152
133.8
1.5
-0.4
-1.9
-2.7
-2.4
Accessories and other apparel
3159
12.3
14.0
0.4
-11.9
0.5
0.1
Leather and allied products
316
30.1
-0.3
0.5
0.8
2.5
2.0
Leather and hide tanning and finishing
3161
3.9
13.7
6.3
-6.4
1.6
-4.4
Footwear
3162
12.5
-5.4
-1.8
3.8
0.8
2.6
Other leather products
3169
13.7
-1.7
-1.3
0.4
4.6
6.0
Wood products
321
359.8
0.8
1.0
0.2
0.7
-0.3
Sawmills and wood preservation
3211
90.3
-5.9
-0.5
5.8
2.6
3.1
Plywood and engineered wood products
3212
62.4
2.6
2.5
-0.1
-1.3
-3.7
Other wood products
3219
207.1
3.7
1.4
-2.2
0.6
-0.8
Paper and paper products
322
388.3
2.7
0.1
-2.5
0.5
0.3
Pulp, paper, and paperboard mills
3221
109.3
1.1
0.4
-0.7
1.0
0.6
Converted paper products
3222
279.0
3.3
0.0
-3.2
0.1
0.1
Printing and related support activities
323
496.4
4.7
-0.9
-5.3
-1.7
-0.8
Printing and related support activities
3231
496.4
4.7
-0.9
-5.3
-1.7
-0.8
Petroleum and coal products
324
112.6
1.9
1.3
-0.5
4.3
3.0
Petroleum and coal products
3241
112.6
1.9
1.3
-0.5
4.3
3.0
Chemicals
325
790.5
0.3
-0.2
-0.6
2.6
2.9
Basic chemicals
3251
142.4
-0.9
-1.8
-0.9
5.8
7.7
Resin, rubber, and artificial fibers
3252
91.4
-0.2
-1.2
-1.1
4.7
6.0
Agricultural chemicals
3253
37.1
-6.9
-3.9
3.3
3.2
7.4
Pharmaceuticals and medicines
3254
270.7
2.7
2.0
-0.6
0.4
-1.5
Paints, coatings, and adhesives
3255
57.4
7.8
1.6
-5.7
1.6
0.0
Soaps, cleaning compounds, and toiletries
3256
106.0
-0.7
3.6
4.4
2.0
-1.6
Other chemical products and preparations
3259
85.5
0.3
-2.8
-3.1
2.8
5.7
Plastics and rubber products
326
637.2
-0.9
1.8
2.7
2.9
1.0
Plastics products
3261
510.2
-1.5
0.6
2.1
2.5
1.9
Rubber products
3262
127.0
1.6
6.9
5.2
4.2
-2.5
Nonmetallic mineral products
327
383.5
2.6
1.7
-1.0
1.2
-0.5
Clay products and refractories
3271
51.1
4.3
0.4
-3.7
2.7
2.3
Glass and glass products
3272
84.5
4.3
4.8
0.5
2.5
-2.2
Cement and concrete products
3273
165.5
1.4
-0.5
-1.8
-0.4
0.0
Lime and gypsum products
3274
13.6
7.1
4.4
-2.5
0.7
-3.5
Other nonmetallic mineral products
3279
68.8
0.3
2.1
1.8
2.6
0.4
Primary metals
331
391.1
-2.0
7.5
9.7
9.0
1.4
Iron and steel mills and ferroalloy production
3311
92.8
-0.1
9.5
9.7
11.2
1.5
Steel products from purchased steel
3312
57.0
-7.6
6.9
15.7
7.7
0.7
Alumina and aluminum production
3313
56.6
5.7
6.1
0.4
7.5
1.3
Other nonferrous metal production
3314
61.7
1.3
1.7
0.4
4.9
3.1
Foundries
3315
123.0
-6.0
10.1
17.1
9.8
-0.3
Fabricated metal products
332
1,373.2
1.9
7.9
5.9
6.4
-1.4
Forging and stamping
3321
95.4
1.5
10.2
8.5
5.6
-4.1
Cutlery and hand tools
3322
40.9
3.3
-0.1
-3.2
3.1
3.1
Architectural and structural metals
3323
336.7
-2.8
3.0
5.9
2.5
-0.5
Boilers, tanks, and shipping containers
3324
90.4
0.8
10.8
9.9
6.5
-3.9
Hardware
3325
23.9
-1.5
-0.5
1.0
-0.7
-0.2
Spring and wire products
3326
41.9
5.6
3.3
-2.1
3.1
-0.2
Machine shops and threaded products
3327
353.9
3.5
13.6
9.7
11.4
-1.9
Coating, engraving, and heat treating metals
3328
131.6
3.6
10.2
6.4
9.1
-1.0
Other fabricated metal products
3329
258.5
6.3
7.9
1.5
5.4
-2.4
Machinery
333
1,068.9
4.8
12.8
7.6
8.2
-4.1
Agriculture, construction, and mining machinery
3331
228.2
6.9
17.5
9.9
13.6
-3.4
Industrial machinery
3332
104.4
6.4
13.1
6.3
7.7
-4.8
Commercial and service industry machinery
3333
93.1
3.3
4.3
1.0
3.1
-1.1
HVAC and commercial refrigeration equipment
3334
130.3
-2.2
3.5
5.8
1.5
-1.9
Metalworking machinery
3335
172.6
7.8
18.2
9.6
10.5
-6.6
Turbine and power transmission equipment
3336
98.4
7.9
19.6
10.8
9.3
-8.6
Other general purpose machinery
3339
241.9
3.1
10.0
6.7
7.7
-2.1
Computer and electronic products
334
1,111.3
4.4
4.0
-0.4
4.0
0.0
Computer and peripheral equipment
3341
157.6
-22.9
-28.5
-7.3
-5.4
32.4
Communications equipment
3342
115.6
5.3
5.7
0.4
11.8
5.8
Audio and video equipment
3343
20.2
19.7
16.5
-2.7
12.6
-3.4
Semiconductors and electronic components
3344
387.4
8.5
14.8
5.8
4.0
-9.4
Electronic instruments
3345
406.0
6.4
3.2
-3.0
3.4
0.2
Magnetic media manufacturing and reproduction
3346
24.5
-2.4
-9.0
-6.7
-5.0
4.4
Electrical equipment and appliances
335
368.3
4.8
5.8
1.0
3.1
-2.6
Electric lighting equipment
3351
46.0
10.0
6.2
-3.5
1.4
-4.6
Household appliances
3352
56.9
-0.5
-2.1
-1.6
-5.9
-3.9
Electrical equipment
3353
139.7
5.1
6.0
0.8
2.5
-3.3
Other electrical equipment and components
3359
125.7
4.3
8.7
4.2
7.0
-1.5
Transportation equipment
336
1,398.0
1.2
5.6
4.4
5.5
-0.1
Motor vehicles
3361
158.8
7.4
11.6
3.9
9.3
-2.1
Motor vehicle bodies and trailers
3362
117.3
1.6
9.6
7.9
8.5
-1.0
Motor vehicle parts
3363
454.6
1.3
7.2
5.9
6.2
-1.0
Aerospace products and parts
3364
488.2
-4.2
-1.4
2.9
4.5
6.0
Railroad rolling stock
3365
21.3
5.2
17.0
11.1
6.9
-8.6
Ship and boat building
3366
122.9
-1.3
0.5
1.8
3.1
2.5
Other transportation equipment
3369
34.9
-7.8
-6.4
1.5
-1.6
5.1
Furniture and related products
337
375.8
-0.2
2.8
3.0
-1.0
-3.7
Household and institutional furniture
3371
237.8
-5.1
-2.5
2.7
-2.4
0.1
Office furniture and fixtures
3372
101.4
4.1
10.8
6.4
0.9
-9.0
Other furniture-related products
3379
36.6
9.9
5.2
-4.3
1.0
-4.0
Miscellaneous manufacturing
339
625.6
-1.3
1.0
2.3
2.8
1.7
Medical equipment and supplies
3391
311.2
-2.4
-1.6
0.8
2.2
3.9
Other miscellaneous manufacturing
3399
314.4
0.6
4.6
4.0
3.5
-1.1
Table 2. Average annual percent change in output per hour, unit labor costs, and related data, 1987-2011
United States Department of Labor
