Productivity and Costs by Industry: Selected Service-Providing Industries News Release

For release 10:00 a.m. (ET) Thursday, June 26, 2025                                                  USDL-25-1061

Technical information: 	(202) 691-5606  •  productivity@bls.gov  •  www.bls.gov/productivity 
Media contact:          (202) 691-5902  •  PressOffice@bls.gov


                              PRODUCTIVITY AND COSTS BY INDUSTRY
                         SELECTED SERVICE-PROVIDING INDUSTRIES - 2024


Labor productivity rose in 20 of 31 selected service-providing industries in 2024, the U.S. Bureau of 
Labor Statistics reported today. Output rose in 21 industries in 2024 while hours worked increased in 13 
industries. Productivity ranged from a 9.6-percent decline in amusement parks and arcades to a 9.1-
percent growth in travel arrangement and reservation services. Unit labor costs increased in 25 of 31 
selected industries in 2024. Radio and television broadcasting had the highest increase in unit labor costs 
(+16.5 percent).

The ten largest industries by number of workers represent 79.9 percent of all workers in the selected 
service-providing industries covered by this news release. Among these ten industries, productivity 
growth was greatest in general freight trucking, long-distance (+6.9 percent) after rising slightly in 2023. 
Automotive repair and maintenance posted the steepest productivity decline (-6.1 percent). 

Labor Productivity Rose in Two-Thirds of Selected Service-Providing Industries in 2024

 • Eleven industries had simultaneous growth in output and declines in hours worked. 
 • Productivity exceeded 8.0-percent growth in two industries: travel arrangement and reservation 
services (+9.1 percent) and medical and diagnostic laboratories (+8.4 percent). Output grew 3.1 
percent in travel arrangement and reservation services and 5.0 percent in medical and diagnostic 
laboratories while hours worked decreased in both industries. 
 • The largest drop in productivity occurred in amusement parks and arcades (-9.6 percent) with a 
fall in output (-3.2 percent) and a climb in hours (+7.0 percent). 
 • Water, sewage and other systems; amusement parks and arcades; and air transportation posted 
the largest increases in hours worked, resulting in decreasing productivity. 

Unit Labor Costs Rose in 25 of 31 of Selected Service-Providing Industries in 2024

Both productivity and unit labor costs increased in 14 industries. Unit labor costs reflect the total labor 
costs required to produce a unit of output. Unit labor costs increase when hourly compensation growth 
exceeds productivity growth. Hourly compensation growth was greater than or equal to productivity 
growth in all 14 industries. Changes in labor productivity counter the impact of changes in hourly 
compensation on unit labor costs facing employers. 

 • Seven industries had growth in unit labor costs that exceeded 10.0 percent, led by radio and 
television broadcasting (+16.5 percent), newspaper publishers (+16.2 percent), postal service 
(+15.7 percent), and periodical publishers (+15.3 percent).
 • The largest declines in unit labor costs were in travel arrangement and reservation 
services (-7.7 percent), wireless telecommunications carriers (-5.3 percent), and general 
freight trucking, long-distance (-4.5 percent). 
 • Hourly compensation rose in 28 of 31 industries measured. Since 1987, gains in hourly 
compensation were more widespread in only 5 years compared to 2024.

Recent Business Cycle Trends

Labor productivity increased in 24 of 31 selected service-providing industries from 2019 to 2024. (See 
table 3.) Similarly, productivity increased in 23 of 31 industries over the business cycle preceding the 
pandemic: 2007 to 2019. 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 highest productivity gains from 2019 to 2024 were in cable and other subscription 
programming (+8.8 percent per year) and travel arrangement and reservation services (+7.5 
percent). 
 • The largest annual declines in productivity during this period occurred in warehousing and 
storage (-7.4 percent) and couriers and messengers (-5.8 percent).

Output increased in 21 of 31 selected service-providing industries from 2019 to 2024. 

 • The highest increases in output during this period were in software publishers (+8.9 percent per 
year) and gambling (+7.6 percent). 
 • The steepest annual declines in output during this period occurred in postal service (-4.4 percent) 
and wired telecommunications carriers (-3.5 percent).
 • From 2007 to 2019, output increased in 24 industries.

Hours worked decreased in 16 of 31 selected service-providing industries from 2019 to 2024. 

 • The two industries with the largest decreases in hours worked over the 5 years were newspaper 
publishers (-8.6 percent per year) and periodical publishers (-6.1 percent). 
 • The industries with the largest increases in hours worked during this period were warehousing 
and storage (+8.0 percent) and software publishers (+7.3 percent).  
 • Hours worked increased in 16 industries from 2007 to 2019. 

Long-Term Productivity Trends Upward Through 2024

Long-term productivity rose in 26 of 31 selected service-providing industries. (See table 2.) 
Measures for some industries begin in years later than 1987.

 • Median long-term productivity growth for all 31 industries was 1.7 percent per year, ranging 
from a decline of 2.6 percent per year for couriers and messengers to an increase of 10.8 percent 
in wireless telecommunications carriers.
 • Software publishers had the highest rate of output growth (+16.2 percent) contributing to a 9.4-
percent annual gain in productivity. 
 • Output increased over the long term in 28 industries while hours worked increased in 19 
industries.

Unit Labor Costs Growth is Widespread in the Long Run

Since 1987, 27 of 31 selected service-producing industries had an increase in unit labor costs while 
hourly compensation went up in every selected industry during that time.

 • The declines in unit labor costs ranged from wireless telecommunications carriers (-8.1 percent 
per year) to cable and other subscription programming (-0.6 percent).
 • Couriers and messengers posted the largest increase in unit labor costs (+5.8 percent). 
 • Median long-term unit labor costs growth was 1.9 percent per year. 
 • Growth in hourly compensation ranged from 1.9 percent per year for wireless telecommunications 
carriers to 5.4 percent for travel arrangement and reservation services. The median growth rate in 
hourly compensation for these industries was 3.6 percent.

Additional Information

The productivity and costs measures in this release incorporate revised data from the Census Bureau's 
Quarterly Services Survey and Monthly Retail Trade Survey. Accordingly, the labor productivity and 
output series for many industries have been revised for 2023.

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

The following NAICS codes are included in Tables 1, 2, and 3 but not counted in the short-term count of 
31 selected industries because they are duplicate codes or aggregates for which underlying coverage is 
published: 22, 221, 484, 4841, 4911, 4931, 511, 5111, 515, 5173, 54121, 721, 722, and 72251.

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 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 and real output per hour (labor productivity). Increases in hourly 
compensation increase unit labor costs; increases in labor productivity offset compensation increases 
and reduce unit labor costs.

Output: Real 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. 

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 from BLS. Other data sources include: the Energy Information Administration, U.S. 
Department of Energy; the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, U.S. Department of Transportation; the 
U.S. Postal Service; the Postal Rate Commission; and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Data 
from both the Census Bureau's Quarterly Services Survey and Monthly Retail Trade Survey are used to 
construct preliminary output measures for 2023 and 2024 for most industries.

Labor Hours: Labor hours are measured as annual hours worked by all employed persons in an 
industry. This includes hours worked for pay as well as uncompensated work time. 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 self-
employed and unpaid family worker data to estimate industry employment. Hours worked estimates 
are derived using: CES and CPS employment; CES data on the average weekly hours paid of 
production and nonproduction workers; CPS data on hours of self-employed and unpaid family workers; 
and ratios of hours worked to hours paid based on data from both the CPS and 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. Additional sources of employment and hours data for certain 
service industries include the Association of American Railroads, the U.S. Department of 
Transportation, and the U.S. Postal Service. 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.

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.