Productivity and Costs by Industry: Wholesale Trade and Retail Trade News Release

For release 10:00 a.m. (ET) Thursday, May 29, 2025                                        USDL-25-0906

Technical Information:  (202) 691-5606  •  productivity@bls.gov  •  www.bls.gov/productivity 
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                              PRODUCTIVITY AND COSTS BY INDUSTRY 
                      WHOLESALE TRADE AND RETAIL TRADE INDUSTRIES – 2024


Labor productivity grew 1.8 percent in wholesale trade and 4.6 percent in retail trade in 2024, the U.S. 
Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Output grew 2.7 percent in wholesale trade and 3.3 percent in 
retail trade. Hours worked increased 0.9 percent in wholesale trade and decreased 1.2 percent in retail 
trade. Unit labor costs, which reflect the total labor costs required to produce a unit of output, rose 1.1 
percent in wholesale trade and fell 1.8 percent in retail trade.

The ten largest four-digit NAICS industries by employment represent 58.2 percent of all workers in the 
wholesale and retail trade sectors. Among these ten industries, productivity growth in 2024 was greatest 
in clothing stores (+7.6 percent), building on its increase in 2023. Three of these ten industries posted 
productivity declines: machinery and supply merchant wholesalers (-4.2 percent), department stores 
(-2.4 percent), and grocery and related product wholesalers (-2.0 percent). 

Labor Productivity Rose in All but 1 of the Three-Digit NAICS Trade Industries in 2024

Productivity increased in 14 of 15 three-digit NAICS industries in 2024. (See table 1.) The industries 
with double-digit gains were nonstore retailers (+12.8 percent) and electronics and appliance stores 
(+10.5 percent). Sporting goods, hobby, musical instrument, and book stores was the lone industry with 
a productivity decline (-5.1 percent), attributed to declining output (-1.6 percent) and increasing hours 
(+3.7 percent).

Labor Productivity Increased in 32 of 46 Four-Digit NAICS Trade Industries in 2024

Productivity increased in 12 of 19 four-digit NAICS wholesale trade industries with output increasing in 
11 industries and hours worked rising in 11 industries. 
 • Productivity rose 0.3 percent in durable goods wholesalers and 2.3 percent in nondurable goods 
   wholesalers. 
 • Among four-digit industries, the highest increase in productivity occurred in petroleum and 
   petroleum products merchant wholesalers (+12.9 percent), as output rose (+7.4 percent) while 
   hours declined (-4.9 percent).

Productivity increased in 20 of 27 four-digit NAICS retail trade industries while output grew in 17 
industries and hours worked rose in 10 industries. 
 • The largest productivity increase occurred in florists (+24.1 percent), as output increased (+3.9 
   percent) and hours fell (-16.3 percent).
 • The largest output increase occurred in electronic shopping and mail-order houses (+9.8 percent). 
   This increase combined with a drop in hours (-5.5 percent) resulted in a 16.2-percent growth in 
   productivity.

Unit Labor Costs Rose in 8 of 15 Three-Digit NAICS Trade Industries in 2024

When hourly compensation outpaces productivity gains, unit labor costs grow. 
 • The largest decrease in unit labor costs occurred in electronics and appliance stores (-10.8 
   percent), in which productivity grew (+10.5 percent) while hourly compensation declined (-1.4 
   percent).
 • Among four-digit NAICS industries, unit labor costs rose in 12 of 19 wholesale trade industries 
   and in 11 of 27 retail trade industries.
 • Hourly compensation rose in 38 of 46 four-digit NAICS industries.

2019 to 2024 Trends

Labor productivity increased in 33 of 46 four-digit trade industries from 2019 to 2024. Output 
increased in 27 of 46 four-digit trade industries from 2019 to 2024. (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 (+13.2 percent per year). This industry 
also had the highest output increase from 2019 to 2024 (+13.8 percent). Vending machine operators 
experienced the steepest annual declines in labor productivity (-7.2 percent) and output (-7.8 percent) 
during this period.

Hours worked decreased in 28 of 46 four-digit trade industries from 2019 to 2024. The four industries 
with the largest decreases in hours worked over these 5 years were shoe stores (-5.8 percent per year), 
direct selling establishments (-5.6 percent), office supplies, stationery, and gift stores (-5.5 percent), and 
jewelry, luggage, and leather goods stores (-5.0 percent). The industry with the largest increase in hours 
worked was used merchandise stores (+4.1 percent).

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

From 1987 to 2024, 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—metal 
   and mineral merchant wholesalers (-0.7 percent), vending machine operators (-0.5 percent), and 
   miscellaneous nondurable goods merchant wholesalers (unchanged). 
 • Of the 43 four-digit NAICS industries with increasing productivity growth, output rose in 38 
   industries and hours worked increased in 22.
 • Median productivity among four-digit NAICS industries grew at an annual rate of 2.0 percent.
 • Among subperiods, productivity growth in the wholesale nondurable goods and retail trade 
   industries was slower from 2007 to 2019 than during the periods preceding and following. The 
   slowest productivity increase for wholesale durable goods occurred over the 2019-24 period 
   (+0.8 percent). Productivity growth was fastest for retail trade in the 2019-24 period and for both 
   durable and nondurable wholesale trade industries in the 1987-2007 period.
 • Productivity grew in 43 of 46 four-digit NAICS industries during the 1987-2007 period. The 
   number of industries with productivity growth fell to 33 in both the 2007-19 and 2019-24 
   periods.

Long-term Trends in Unit Labor Costs Vary by Sector

From 1987 to 2024, 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 15 of 27 retail trade industries from 1987 to 2024. 
 • Across subperiods, unit labor costs rose in 29 industries in 1987-2007, 34 industries in 2007-19, 
   and 40 industries in 2019-24.
 • 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 2019-24 periods. In retail trade, unit labor costs fell slightly from 1987 to 2007, 
   were unchanged from 2007 to 2019, and rose from 2019 to 2024.

Additional Information

The trade measures in this release incorporate benchmark data from the Census Bureau’s Monthly 
Wholesale Trade Survey (March 2025), Monthly Retail Trade Survey (February 2025), and 
Nonemployer Statistics (December 2024) with the National Income and Product Accounts (March 2025) 
from the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Accordingly, the labor productivity and output series for all 
industries have been revised for 2023 and earlier years. Additionally, the unit labor cost measures 
incorporate preliminary data from the BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (March 2025). 

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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Technical Note

Labor Productivity: Labor productivity describes the relationship between output and the labor hours 
involved in its production. These measures show the changes from period to period in the amount of 
goods and services produced per hour worked. Although the labor productivity measures relate real 
output in an industry to hours worked of all persons in that industry, they do not measure the specific 
contribution of labor to growth in output. 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; the characteristics and effort of the workforce; and managerial skill. 

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 nominal industry labor compensation 
by an index of real industry output. Unit labor costs also describe the relationship between compensation 
per hour worked (hourly compensation) and real output per hour worked (labor productivity). When 
hourly compensation growth outpaces productivity, unit labor costs increase. Alternatively, when 
productivity growth exceeds hourly compensation, unit labor costs decrease. 

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 for data in this release is 
derived by deflating nominal sales or values of production using price indexes. Industry output measures 
are constructed primarily using U.S. Census Bureau data from the economic censuses and annual 
surveys along with U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis National Income and Product Accounts reported 
revenues and prices, together with information on price changes from BLS. 

Labor Hours: Labor hours are measured as annual hours worked by all workers in an industry. All 
workers include the sum of BLS Current Employment Statistics (CES) data on the number of jobs held 
by wage and salary workers in nonfarm establishments and Current Population Survey (CPS) data on the 
number of self-employed and unpaid family workers. Labor hours for wage and salary workers are 
estimated using CES data on hours paid of all employees. Paid hours are adjusted to an hours worked 
concept using ratios of hours worked to hours paid based on data from the National Compensation 
Survey (NCS) and off-the-clock hours incorporated from CPS data. Hours worked of self-employed and 
unpaid family workers are directly from the CPS. For some industries, employment and hours data are 
supplemented or further disaggregated using data from the BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and 
Wages (QCEW), the Census Bureau, or other sources. Hours worked are estimated separately for 
different types of workers and then are directly aggregated; no adjustments for labor composition are 
made.

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 both 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. Industry compensation measures are constructed primarily using data from 
the BLS QCEW and the economic censuses of the Census Bureau at the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Annual Percent Change: The annual percent change is the change in a series from one year to the next 
as a percent of the series value in the previous year. Over a period of more than one year, the annual 
percent change is the compound annual growth rate in an index series, or an annualized average growth 
rate. Because the change of an index series varies from year to year, the annual percent change for a 
long time period reflects the constant rate that can be applied to each year in a period, from the start to 
the end, that would give the same total result. It is calculated as (Ending Value/Starting 
Value)^(1/Number of Years) - 1.