Productivity and Costs by Industry: Wholesale Trade and Retail Trade Industries - 2025

For release 10:00 a.m. (ET) Thursday, May 28, 2026                                               USDL-26-0772

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                              PRODUCTIVITY AND COSTS BY INDUSTRY 
                      WHOLESALE TRADE AND RETAIL TRADE INDUSTRIES – 2025


Labor productivity grew 4.4 percent in wholesale trade and 2.9 percent in retail trade in 2025, the U.S. 
Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. In wholesale trade, output grew 3.1 percent and hours worked 
decreased 1.2 percent. In retail trade, output grew 2.5 percent and hours worked decreased 0.4 percent. 
Unit labor costs, which reflect the total labor costs required to produce a unit of output, fell 0.4 percent 
in wholesale trade and 0.7 percent in retail trade.

The ten largest four-digit NAICS industries by employment represent 58.8 percent of all workers in the 
wholesale and retail trade sectors. Among these ten industries, productivity growth in 2025 was greatest 
in clothing stores (+11.2 percent), building on its increase in 2024. Four of these ten industries posted 
productivity declines: building material and supplies dealers (-3.4 percent), grocery stores (-3.1 percent), 
other general merchandise stores (-2.0 percent), and machinery and supply merchant wholesalers (-0.1 
percent).

Labor Productivity Rose in 12 of 15 Three-Digit NAICS Trade Industries in 2025

Productivity increased in 12 of 15 three-digit NAICS industries in 2025. (See table 1.)
 • The industry with the greatest productivity gain was wholesale electronic markets and agents and 
   brokers (+13.4 percent).
 • Three industries had an increase in labor hours: motor vehicle and parts dealers (+0.3 percent), 
   general merchandise stores (+0.9 percent), and food and beverage stores (+1.9 percent).
 • Two industries had declines in productivity: food and beverage stores (-1.7 percent), with hours 
   increasing faster than output; and building material and garden supply stores (-1.7 percent), with 
   output decreasing faster than hours.

Labor Productivity Increased in 35 of 46 Four-Digit NAICS Trade Industries in 2025

Productivity increased in 14 of 19 four-digit NAICS wholesale trade industries with output increasing in 
11 industries and hours worked rising in 5 industries. 
 • Productivity rose 3.6 percent in durable goods wholesalers and 3.9 percent in nondurable goods 
   wholesalers. 
 • Among four-digit industries, the highest increase in productivity occurred in appliance and 
   electric goods merchant wholesalers (+15.2 percent). Output rose 12.8 percent while hours 
   declined 2.1 percent.  

Productivity increased in 21 of 27 four-digit NAICS retail trade industries as output grew in 18 
industries and hours worked rose in 6 industries.
 • The largest productivity increase occurred in vending machine operators, which posted its largest 
   productivity gain on record (+18.2 percent). Output decreased (-0.7 percent) and hours fell more 
   sharply (-16.0 percent).
 • The largest output increase occurred in used merchandise stores (+11.0 percent). This increase 
   combined with a drop in hours (-1.4 percent) resulted in a 12.5-percent growth in productivity.

Unit Labor Costs Declined in 9 of 15 Three-Digit NAICS Trade Industries in 2025

When productivity gains outpace hourly compensation, unit labor costs decline.
 • Among four-digit NAICS industries, unit labor costs fell in 8 of 19 wholesale trade industries 
   and in 19 of 27 retail trade industries.
 • The largest decrease in unit labor costs occurred in electronic markets and agents and brokers 
   (-10.6 percent), where productivity grew faster (+13.4 percent) than hourly compensation (+1.4 
   percent).
 • Hourly compensation rose in 13 of 15 three-digit NAICS industries.

Long-term Labor Productivity Increases in All but 3 Four-Digit NAICS Trade Industries

From 1987 to 2025, labor productivity increased 2.4 percent per year in wholesale trade and 3.2 
percent per year in retail trade. (See table 2.)
 • Among the 46 four-digit NAICS industries, productivity rose in all but three industries: 
   department stores (-2.0 percent per year), metal and mineral (except petroleum) merchant 
   wholesalers (-0.5 percent per year), and miscellaneous nondurable goods merchant wholesalers 
   (unchanged).
 • Of the 43 four-digit NAICS industries with increasing productivity growth, output rose in 37 
   industries and hours worked increased in 19.
 • Median productivity among four-digit NAICS industries grew at an annual rate of 2.1 percent.

Long-term Trends in Unit Labor Costs Vary by Sector

From 1987 to 2025, unit labor costs increased 1.5 percent per year in wholesale trade and 0.1 percent 
per year in retail trade. (See table 2.) Among the 46 four-digit NAICS industries, unit labor costs rose in 
17 of 19 wholesale trade industries and 14 of 27 retail trade industries from 1987 to 2025. 

Unit labor costs for wholesale nondurable goods rose steadily over the long term (+2.9 percent per year) 
while wholesale durable goods (+0.4 percent per year) and retail trade (+0.1 percent per year) changed 
little by comparison. At the same time, productivity rose more slowly for wholesale nondurable goods 
(+1.1 percent per year) compared to wholesale durable goods (+3.6 percent per year) and retail trade 
(+3.2 percent per year).

Trends by Time Period

Of the 46 four-digit NAICS trade industries, labor productivity increased in 34 industries and output 
increased in 29 industries from 2019 to 2025. (See table 3.) Note that the annual percent changes for 
periods of more than 1 year are annualized average rates of change over the entire period, or a 
compound annual growth rate. The industry with the highest labor productivity growth rate during this 
period was electronic shopping and mail-order houses (+12.6 percent per year). This industry also had 
the highest output increase from 2019 to 2025 (+12.4 percent). Department stores experienced the 
steepest annual declines in labor productivity (-3.5 percent) and output (-6.4 percent) during this period.

Hours worked decreased in 29 of 46 four-digit trade industries from 2019 to 2025. The 3 industries 
with the largest decreases in hours worked over these 6 years were shoe stores (-6.3 percent per year), 
office supplies, stationery, and gift stores (-4.9 percent per year), and paper and paper product merchant 
wholesalers (-4.6 percent per year). The industry with the largest increase in hours worked was used 
merchandise stores (+3.1 percent per year).

Productivity growth was fastest for both durable and nondurable wholesale trade industries in the 1987-
2007 period and for retail trade in the 2019-25 period. In all three periods, unit labor costs remained 
positive for wholesale nondurable goods. After falling from 1987 to 2007, wholesale durable goods unit 
labor costs increased for both the 2007-19 and 2019-25 periods. In retail trade, unit labor costs fell 
slightly from 1987 to 2007, were unchanged from 2007 to 2019, and rose from 2019 to 2025.

Additional Information

The trade measures in this release incorporate 2022 Economic Census data and benchmark data from the 
Census Bureau’s Annual Integrated Economic Survey, Monthly Wholesale Trade Survey, Monthly 
Retail Trade Survey, and Nonemployer Statistics as well as the National Income and Product Accounts 
from the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Accordingly, the labor productivity and output series for all 
industries have been revised for 2024 and earlier years. Additionally, the unit labor cost measures 
incorporate preliminary data from the BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages. 

More information about the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) can be found at 
www.census.gov/naics/.

Access the productivity data dashboard at www.bls.gov/productivity/tables/labor-productivity-detailed-
industries.xlsx for
 • Additional industries and sectors
 • Detailed data series: indexes of productivity and related measures; rates of change; and levels of 
   industry employment, hours worked, nominal value of production, and labor compensation 
 • Additional years and long-term data

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