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Nonfarm business productivity increased slightly over the year ending in second quarter 2015

August 13, 2015

From the second quarter of 2014 to the second quarter of 2015, nonfarm business labor productivity increased 0.3 percent, resulting from a 2.8-percent increase in output and a 2.6-percent increase in hours worked. Manufacturing productivity rose 1.1 percent over the past year, as output increased 2.3 percent and hours increased 1.2 percent.

Labor productivity in nonfarm business and in manufacturing, percent change from same quarter in previous year, 2005–15
Quarter Nonfarm Manufacturing

Q2 2005

1.6 6.9

Q3 2005

2.1 6.0

Q4 2005

1.8 4.7

Q1 2006

1.3 3.5

Q2 2006

1.3 2.3

Q3 2006

0.2 3.3

Q4 2006

0.9 4.0

Q1 2007

0.4 4.3

Q2 2007

1.1 5.9

Q3 2007

2.7 6.5

Q4 2007

2.3 8.1

Q1 2008

1.2 9.4

Q2 2008

1.6 7.1

Q3 2008

0.7 3.0

Q4 2008

-0.4 -3.8

Q1 2009

1.4 -10.0

Q2 2009

2.3 -10.2

Q3 2009

3.6 -6.2

Q4 2009

5.5 -0.2

Q1 2010

5.2 7.6

Q2 2010

3.6 12.4

Q3 2010

2.6 11.6

Q4 2010

1.8 10.8

Q1 2011

0.4 9.1

Q2 2011

0.4 5.3

Q3 2011

-0.3 5.1

Q4 2011

0.1 3.1

Q1 2012

1.1 1.9

Q2 2012

1.3 1.4

Q3 2012

1.3 -0.4

Q4 2012

0.0 0.2

Q1 2013

-0.2 0.1

Q2 2013

-0.8 1.0

Q3 2013

-0.2 1.1

Q4 2013

1.2 0.5

Q1 2014

0.3 0.8

Q2 2014

1.0 0.8

Q3 2014

1.4 1.8

Q4 2014

0.0 1.8

Q1 2015

0.6 1.2

Q2 2015

0.3 1.1

Nonfarm business unit labor costs increased 2.1 percent over the year (second quarter 2014 to second quarter 2015), while manufacturing unit labor costs increased 0.2 percent.

These data are from the BLS Labor Productivity and Costs program. All quarterly percent changes shown are seasonally adjusted annual rates and are subject to revision. To learn more, see “Productivity and Costs — Second Quarter 2015, Preliminary,” (HTML) (PDF). Labor productivity, or output per hour, is calculated by dividing an index of real output by an index of hours worked for all persons, including employees, proprietors, and unpaid family workers.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Nonfarm business productivity increased slightly over the year ending in second quarter 2015 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2015/nonfarm-business-productivity-increased-slightly-over-the-year-ending-in-second-quarter-2015.htm (visited March 29, 2024).

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