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Productivity and Costs by Industry: Wholesale Trade, Retail Trade, and Food Services and Drinking Places News Release
For release 10:00 a.m. (ET) Thursday, July 30, 2020 USDL-20-1465
Technical Information: (202) 691-5606 productivity@bls.gov www.bls.gov/lpc
Media Contact: (202) 691-5902 PressOffice@bls.gov
PRODUCTIVITY AND COSTS BY INDUSTRY: WHOLESALE TRADE AND
RETAIL TRADE INDUSTRIES -- 2019
Labor productivity rose 5.3 percent in retail trade and 0.4 percent in wholesale trade in 2019, the U.S.
Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Unit labor costs, which reflect the total labor costs required
to produce a unit of output, rose in wholesale trade and fell in retail trade.
Annual productivity growth for retail trade in 2019 was the highest since 1999. In 2019, retail trade
output increased at an accelerating rate while hours worked fell at a faster rate than in 2018. In
wholesale trade, productivity and output increased at a slower rate than in 2018 and hours worked
increased at a slightly faster rate.
Among the six 4-digit industries with the highest productivity growth, five reported growth in output
while one industry showed growth in hours worked. Productivity growth was greatest in electronic
shopping and mail-order houses (+13.2 percent) where growth in output far surpassed growth in hours
worked.
Of the six 4-digit industries with the largest declines in productivity, hours worked increased in five and
output increased in one, vending machine operators. The two industries with the greatest decreases in
productivity were appliance and electric goods merchant wholesalers (-6.2 percent) and used
merchandise stores (-6.8 percent).
Labor Productivity Rose in Majority of Industries in 2019
Productivity increased in 13 of the 15 3-digit NAICS industries studied in 2019. Eight industries had
productivity gains of at least 4.0 percent, with the highest in nonstore retailers (+14.0 percent) which
also had the largest increase in output (+15.6 percent). Of the two industries with productivity declines,
building material and garden supply stores experienced the largest drop (-2.3 percent).
Productivity increased in 30 of the 46 4-digit NAICS industries studied in 2019. Output grew in 31
industries while hours worked grew in 24 industries. (See table 1).
In wholesale trade, productivity rose 0.4 percent as output grew 1.0 percent and hours worked increased
0.6 percent.
Productivity fell 1.1 percent in durable goods wholesalers and rose 1.3 percent in nondurable
goods wholesalers.
Productivity increased in 8 of the 19 4-digit wholesale trade industries while output rose in 11
industries and hours worked grew in 13.
The most rapid increase in productivity occurred in petroleum merchant wholesalers (+8.4
percent) because output grew 8.1 percent while hours worked declined 0.3 percent.
In retail trade, productivity increased by 5.3 percent as output grew 3.7 percent and hours worked fell
1.5 percent.
Productivity increased in 22 of the 27 4-digit retail trade industries while output grew in 20
industries and hours worked rose in 11.
The largest productivity increase occurred in electronic shopping and mail-order houses (+13.2
percent) as output increased at over five times the rate of hours worked.
Specialty food stores hours worked declined 11.7 percent while output declined 1.6 percent,
resulting in a productivity increase of 11.5 percent.
Unit Labor Costs Decline in One Third of Industries in 2019
When productivity gains outpace hourly compensation, unit labor costs decline.
Unit labor costs fell in 5 out of 15 3-digit wholesale and retail trade industries in 2019. All unit
labor cost declines occurred in industries where productivity rose.
Unit labor costs declined in 4 of 19 4-digit wholesale trade industries. In retail trade, 9 of 27 4-
digit industries had declines in unit labor costs, and two 4-digit industries had no change.
Hourly compensation, defined as labor compensation per hour worked, rose in 37 of the 46
4-digit industries.
Long-term Labor Productivity Increases for Most Industries
From 1987 to 2019, labor productivity increased at an average annual rate of 2.7 percent in wholesale
trade and 2.9 percent in retail trade. (See table 2.)
Among the 4-digit industries, productivity rose from 1987 to 2019 in 43 industries, was
unchanged in 2 industries, and declined in 1 industry, metal and mineral merchant wholesalers.
Of the 43 4-digit industries with increasing productivity growth, 38 experienced rising output
while 22 had an increase in hours worked.
Median productivity among 4-digit industries grew at an average annual rate of 1.9 percent.
The 2007 to 2019 productivity growth in durable wholesale, nondurable wholesale, and retail
trade industries was slower than during the 1987-2007 period.
The number of 4-digit industries with increasing productivity dropped from 43 out of 46 during
the 1987-2007 period to 33 during the 2007-2019 period.
Long-term Trends in Unit Labor Costs Vary by Sector
From 1987 to 2019, unit labor costs declined at an average annual rate of 0.3 percent in wholesale
durable goods, increased at an average annual rate of 2.7 percent in wholesale nondurable goods, and
were unchanged in retail trade. (See table 2.)
Among the 4-digit industries, unit labor costs fell in 15 out of 46 industries from 1987 to 2019.
Unit labor costs declined in 2 out of 19 wholesale trade and in 13 out of 27 retail trade industries.
From 2007 to 2019, unit labor costs declined in 14 out of 46 industries. All industries with
declines in unit labor costs experienced increases in productivity.
During the 1987 to 2007 and 2007 to 2019 periods, electronics and appliance stores had the
largest unit labor cost declines and the largest productivity gains among the 3-digit industries.
Additional Information
The trade measures in this release incorporate benchmark data from the Census Bureaus Annual
Wholesale Trade Report (February 2020), Monthly Wholesale Trade Survey (May 2020), Annual Retail
Trade Survey (February 2020), Annual Revision of the Monthly Retail and Food Services: Sales and
Inventories (April 2020), and Nonemployer Statistics (May 2020). Accordingly, the labor productivity
and output series for all industries have been revised for 2018 and earlier years. Additionally, the unit
labor cost measures incorporate preliminary data from the BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and
Wages (June 2020).
Access the productivity data dashboard at www.bls.gov/lpc/lpc_by_industry_dashboard.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
Subscribe to productivity news releases on the BLS website at
https://subscriptions.bls.gov/accounts/USDOLBLS/subscriber/new.
Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice
phone: (202) 691-5200; Federal Relay Service: (800) 877-8339.
Technical Note
Labor Productivity: Labor productivity describes the relationship between real 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 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 data from the economic censuses and annual
surveys of the U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Department of Commerce, together with information on price
changes from BLS.
Labor Hours: Labor hours are measured as annual hours worked by all employed persons in an industry.
Data on industry employment and hours come primarily from the BLS Current Employment Statistics (CES)
survey and Current Population Survey (CPS). CES data on the number of total and production worker
jobs held by wage and salary workers in nonfarm establishments are supplemented with CPS data on
self-employed and unpaid family workers to estimate industry employment. Hours worked estimates are
derived using CES and CPS employment, CES data on the average weekly hours paid of production workers,
CPS data on hours of nonproduction, self-employed, and unpaid family workers, and ratios of hours
worked to hours paid based on data from the National Compensation Survey (NCS). 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, U.S. Department of Commerce.
Table 1. Recent labor productivity, unit labor costs, and related data
Industry
2017 NAICS code
2019 Employment (thousands)
Percent change, 2018-2019
Labor productivity
Unit labor costs
Output
Hours worked
Labor compen- sation
Hourly compen- sation
Wholesale Trade
Wholesale trade
42
6,028.4
0.4
2.5
1.0
0.6
3.5
2.9
Merchant wholesalers, durable goods
423
3,262.2
-1.1
3.6
0.3
1.4
4.0
2.5
Motor vehicles and parts
4231
364.3
-1.8
2.9
1.7
3.5
4.6
1.1
Furniture and furnishings
4232
119.5
4.9
-0.3
3.8
-1.1
3.5
4.6
Lumber and construction supplies
4233
254.5
-0.4
2.6
3.2
3.6
5.9
2.2
Commercial equipment
4234
693.3
4.0
-0.9
5.6
1.5
4.6
3.0
Metals and minerals
4235
139.3
-0.7
1.3
0.1
0.8
1.4
0.7
Appliances and electric goods
4236
365.3
-6.2
8.1
-6.0
0.2
1.6
1.4
Hardware and plumbing
4237
285.9
-3.4
5.0
-0.1
3.3
4.9
1.5
Machinery and supplies
4238
721.5
-2.8
5.8
-1.0
1.8
4.7
2.8
Miscellaneous durable goods
4239
318.6
1.2
3.7
-1.7
-2.9
1.9
4.9
Merchant wholesalers, nondurable goods
424
2,230.2
1.3
1.5
1.7
0.4
3.2
2.8
Paper and paper products
4241
132.2
-2.5
8.5
-6.7
-4.3
1.2
5.8
Druggists' goods
4242
243.5
0.9
3.7
1.2
0.3
4.9
4.6
Apparel and piece goods
4243
156.4
-4.0
4.1
-3.2
0.9
0.8
-0.1
Grocery and related products
4244
812.4
1.5
0.2
2.0
0.5
2.2
1.7
Farm product raw materials
4245
72.2
-5.4
-6.5
-0.8
4.9
-7.2
-11.6
Chemicals
4246
153.3
-1.7
3.1
0.4
2.2
3.6
1.4
Petroleum
4247
105.9
8.4
-0.8
8.1
-0.3
7.2
7.5
Alcoholic beverages
4248
207.9
2.7
1.6
4.3
1.6
6.0
4.3
Miscellaneous nondurable goods
4249
346.4
-3.6
7.6
-3.9
-0.3
3.4
3.7
Electronic markets and agents and brokers
425
536.0
5.6
0.2
1.4
-4.0
1.6
5.8
Electronic markets and agents and brokers
4251
536.0
5.6
0.2
1.4
-4.0
1.6
5.8
Retail Trade
Retail trade
44-45
16,410.5
5.3
-1.1
3.7
-1.5
2.5
4.1
Motor vehicle and parts dealers
441
2,093.4
1.4
1.2
3.0
1.6
4.2
2.6
Automobile dealers
4411
1,331.2
2.4
1.3
2.9
0.4
4.2
3.8
Other motor vehicle dealers
4412
177.6
0.5
-2.0
6.6
6.2
4.5
-1.6
Auto parts, accessories, and tire stores
4413
584.6
-1.4
2.5
1.7
3.1
4.2
1.1
Furniture and home furnishings stores
442
498.7
4.9
-3.7
-0.3
-5.0
-4.0
1.0
Furniture stores
4421
231.8
1.9
0.4
-2.2
-4.0
-1.8
2.3
Home furnishings stores
4422
266.9
8.3
-8.1
1.8
-6.0
-6.4
-0.4
Electronics and appliance stores
443
490.4
11.7
-6.2
3.3
-7.5
-3.0
4.8
Electronics and appliance stores
4431
490.4
11.7
-6.2
3.3
-7.5
-3.0
4.8
Building material and garden supply stores
444
1,329.3
-2.3
2.8
-0.2
2.2
2.6
0.4
Building material and supplies dealers
4441
1,163.3
-3.0
1.9
0.3
3.4
2.2
-1.1
Lawn and garden equipment and supplies stores
4442
166.0
2.2
9.0
-3.4
-5.5
5.3
11.4
Food and beverage stores
445
3,146.7
1.8
1.5
1.7
-0.1
3.2
3.3
Grocery stores
4451
2,722.8
1.1
2.1
1.9
0.7
4.0
3.3
Specialty food stores
4452
242.7
11.5
-4.1
-1.6
-11.7
-5.6
6.9
Beer, wine and liquor stores
4453
181.2
-2.9
2.5
1.4
4.4
3.9
-0.5
Health and personal care stores
446
1,103.3
4.5
-1.9
3.2
-1.3
1.2
2.5
Health and personal care stores
4461
1,103.3
4.5
-1.9
3.2
-1.3
1.2
2.5
Gasoline stations
447
949.6
2.0
2.8
1.8
-0.2
4.7
4.9
Gasoline stations
4471
949.6
2.0
2.8
1.8
-0.2
4.7
4.9
Clothing and clothing accessories stores
448
1,398.1
5.5
0.6
1.3
-4.0
1.9
6.2
Clothing stores
4481
1,029.2
6.8
0.0
0.8
-5.6
0.8
6.8
Shoe stores
4482
203.8
0.9
2.9
2.7
1.8
5.6
3.7
Jewelry, luggage, and leather goods stores
4483
165.1
5.7
1.0
2.5
-3.0
3.5
6.8
Sports, hobby, music instruments, book stores
451
602.7
6.2
0.9
-0.2
-6.0
0.7
7.1
Sporting goods and musical instrument stores
4511
517.0
6.7
0.6
-0.1
-6.4
0.5
7.4
Book stores and news dealers
4512
85.7
2.2
2.7
-0.8
-2.9
1.9
4.9
General merchandise stores
452
3,055.2
7.0
-0.9
1.2
-5.4
0.3
6.1
Department stores
4522
1,083.1
5.1
1.1
-3.6
-8.3
-2.6
6.2
Other general merchandise stores
4523
1,972.1
6.7
-0.7
2.4
-4.0
1.8
6.0
Miscellaneous store retailers
453
981.5
1.9
0.8
2.1
0.2
3.0
2.7
Florists
4531
73.8
6.0
-7.3
5.8
-0.2
-1.9
-1.7
Office supplies, stationery and gift stores
4532
257.4
5.8
0.0
1.4
-4.1
1.4
5.7
Used merchandise stores
4533
225.2
-6.8
5.3
-1.9
5.2
3.3
-1.9
Other miscellaneous store retailers
4539
425.1
2.8
1.2
3.1
0.3
4.3
4.0
Nonstore retailers
454
761.6
14.0
-7.2
15.6
1.5
7.3
5.8
Electronic shopping and mail-order houses
4541
483.3
13.2
-5.4
16.9
3.2
10.5
7.0
Vending machine operators
4542
49.7
-3.8
8.7
2.4
6.4
11.3
4.5
Direct selling establishments
4543
228.6
10.9
-10.8
7.2
-3.4
-4.3
-1.0
Table 2. Long run labor productivity, unit labor costs, and related data
United States Department of Labor
