For release 10:00 a.m. (EDT) Thursday, March 24, 2016 USDL-16-0612
Technical information: (202) 691-5606 • mfpweb@bls.gov • www.bls.gov/mfp
Media contact: (202) 691-5902 • PressOffice@bls.gov
(Note: The Bureau of Labor Statistics identified an error in the estimates of
the contribution of intellectual property products (IPP) excluding
research and development (R&D) to labor productivity and the contribution
of capital services excluding information processing equipment (IPE) &
IPP to labor productivity. This error affects Table B of Multifactor
Productivity Trends – 2014. No other measures besides the measures listed
above were affected by this error. The data in this release will not be
corrected. For more information, please visit
https://www.bls.gov/bls/errata/productivity-correction-11082017.htm.)
MULTIFACTOR PRODUCTIVITY TRENDS – 2014
Private nonfarm business sector multifactor productivity increased at a 0.7
percent annual rate in 2014, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported
today. (See chart 1 and table A.) This gain in 2014 reflected a 3.1-percent
increase in output and a 2.4-percent increase in the combined inputs of
capital and labor. Capital services grew by 2.1 percent, the largest gain
since 2008, and labor input – which is the combined effect of hours worked
and labor composition – grew 2.5 percent. Capital intensity, defined as
capital services per hour, decreased at a rate of 0.3 percent in 2014 after
no change in 2013. Capital intensity decreased three of the last four years,
the only declines in this measure which began in 1987, indicating that
capital is no longer keeping pace with labor. (See table 1.)
Multifactor productivity measures the change in output relative to the
change in capital and labor inputs used to produce that output. It is
designed to measure the joint influences of technological change, efficiency
improvements, returns to scale, reallocation of resources, and other
factors of economic growth, accounting for the effects of capital and
labor. Multifactor productivity annual measures differ from BLS quarterly
labor productivity (output per hour worked) measures because the former
also include the influences of capital services and shifts in the
composition of the workforce. Additionally, much of the source data
needed to construct multifactor productivity measures are not available
on a quarterly basis.
Private business sector multifactor productivity increased at a 0.7
percent annual rate in 2014, reflecting a 3.1- percent increase in output
and a 2.4-percent increase in the combined inputs of capital and labor.
(See table 2 and table A.)
Historical trends in the private nonfarm business sector
Multifactor productivity in the private nonfarm business sector grew
0.9 percent annually from 1987 to 2014, reflecting a 2.9-percent growth
in output and a 1.9-percent growth in combined inputs. (See table A.)
For the more recent 2007-2014 period, multifactor productivity grew
0.4 percent, due to a 1.1-percent increase in output coupled with a
0.7-percent increase in combined inputs. The increase in combined
inputs reflected a 1.4-percent increase in capital services, a
0.1-percent decline in hours, and a 0.4-percent increase in labor
composition. (See table A.)
Annual labor productivity growth can be viewed as the sum of three
components: multifactor productivity growth, the contribution of
capital intensity, and the contribution of shifts in labor composition.
For the 2007-2014 period, multifactor productivity and the contribution
of capital intensity to labor productivity grew 0.4 percent and 0.6
percent, respectively. (See chart 2 and table B.) The contributions
to labor productivity have decelerated from the 1995-2000 and 2000-2007
periods, due to multifactor productivity and the contribution of capital
intensity returning to pre-1995 levels.
Information processing equipment (IPE) and intellectual property products
(IPP) showed the strongest growth among the various capital asset
components from 1987 to 2014. For the 2007-2014 period, real capital
services of IPE grew 4.2 percent annually and IPP grew 2.9 percent
annually in the private nonfarm business sector. (See table 5.)
Both IPE and IPP have experienced a steady deceleration in growth
from their peak in 1995-2000; in the 1995-2000 period IPE grew
18.4 percent and IPP grew 8.4 percent.
Revisions
The revised multifactor productivity measure for 2014 is based on
more recent source data than were available for the preliminary
multifactor productivity release, published on June 23, 2015,
www.bls.gov/news.release/archives/prod3_06232015.pdf.
Multifactor productivity growth rates in the private nonfarm
business sector were revised from 0.8 percent to 0.7 percent in
2014, and from 0.9 percent to -0.1 percent in 2013 due primarily
to a revision to output. (See table C.)
Table A. Productivity, output, and inputs in the private nonfarm business
and private business sectors for selected periods, 1987-2014
Compound annual growth rates
1987- 1987- 1990- 1995- 2000- 2007- 2013-
2014 1990 1995 2000 2007 2014 2014
Private nonfarm business1
Productivity
Multifactor productivity2 0.9 0.7 0.5 1.5 1.4 0.4 0.7
Labor productivity3 2.0 1.6 1.6 2.9 2.6 1.2 0.7
Output per unit of
capital services -0.4 -0.5 -0.3 -0.8 -0.4 -0.3 1.0
Output 2.9 3.3 3.0 5.0 2.8 1.1 3.1
Inputs
Combined inputs4 1.9 2.6 2.4 3.5 1.4 0.7 2.4
Labor input5 1.3 2.0 2.0 2.4 0.6 0.3 2.5
Hours 0.8 1.7 1.3 2.1 0.2 -0.1 2.4
Labor Composition6 0.4 0.3 0.7 0.3 0.4 0.4 0.1
Capital services 3.3 3.8 3.3 5.9 3.2 1.4 2.1
Analytic ratio
Capital services per
hour of all persons 2.5 2.0 2.0 3.7 3.0 1.6 -0.3
Private business1
Productivity
Multifactor productivity2 1.0 0.8 0.5 1.6 1.4 0.4 0.7
Labor productivity3 2.1 1.7 1.6 3.0 2.7 1.3 0.6
Output per unit of
capital services -0.4 -0.4 -0.2 -0.6 -0.4 -0.3 1.0
Output 2.9 3.3 2.9 5.1 2.8 1.2 3.1
Inputs
Combined inputs4 1.9 2.5 2.4 3.4 1.4 0.7 2.4
Labor input5 1.2 1.9 2.1 2.3 0.5 0.3 2.6
Hours 0.8 1.5 1.4 2.0 0.1 -0.1 2.5
Labor Composition6 0.4 0.3 0.7 0.3 0.4 0.4 0.1
Capital services 3.2 3.7 3.2 5.7 3.2 1.4 2.0
Analytic ratio
Capital services per
hour of all persons 2.4 2.1 1.8 3.7 3.0 1.5 -0.5
1 Excludes government enterprises.
2 Output per combined units of labor input and capital services.
3 Output per hour worked
4 The growth rate of each input is weighted by its share of current dollar costs.
5 Hours at work by age, education, and gender group are weighted by each group’s share of the total wage bill.
6 Ratio of labor input to hours.
7 Capital services per hour.
Table B. Labor productivity and the contributions of capital intensity,
labor composition, and multifactor productivity to labor productivity in
the private nonfarm business and private business sectors for selected
periods, 1987-2014
Compound annual growth rates
1987- 1987- 1990- 1995- 2000- 2007- 2013-
2014 1990 1995 2000 2007 2014 2014
Private nonfarm business1
Labor productivity2 2.0 1.6 1.6 2.9 2.6 1.2 0.7
Contribution of
capital intensity3 0.8 0.7 0.6 1.2 1.0 0.6 -0.1
Contribution of
information processing
equipment4 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.6 0.3 0.1 0.0
Contribution of
research and develop-
ment5 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.0
Contribution of all
other intellectual
property products6 0.2 0.2 0.4 0.4 -0.1 0.1 0.1
Contribution of all
other capital services 0.2 0.1 -0.1 0.1 0.7 0.2 -0.3
Contribution of
labor composition7 0.3 0.2 0.5 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.1
Multifactor productivity8 0.9 0.7 0.5 1.5 1.4 0.4 0.7
Contribution of R&D to
multifactor productivity
Private business1
Labor productivity2 2.1 1.7 1.6 3.0 2.7 1.3 0.6
Contribution of
capital intensity3 0.8 0.7 0.6 1.2 1.0 0.6 -0.2
Contribution of
information processing
equipment4 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.6 0.3 0.1 0.0
Contribution of
research and develop-
ment5 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.0
Contribution of all
other intellectual
property products6 0.2 0.2 0.4 0.4 -0.1 0.1 0.1
Contribution of all
other capital services 0.3 0.1 -0.1 0.1 0.7 0.2 -0.3
Contribution of
labor composition7 0.3 0.2 0.5 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.1
Multifactor productivity8 1.0 0.8 0.5 1.6 1.4 0.4 0.7
1. Excludes government enterprises.
2. Output per hour worked.
3. Capital services per hour multiplied by capital's share of current
dollar costs.
4. Information processing equipment per hour multiplied by its share of
current dollar costs.
5. Research and development per hour multiplied by its share of current
dollar costs.
6. Software and artistic originals per hour multiplied by their share
of current dollar costs.
7. Labor composition multiplied by labor's share of current dollar costs.
8. Output per unit of combined labor input and capital services.
Note: Multifactor productivity plus contribution of capital intensity and
labor composition may not sum to output per hour due to independent
rounding. Contributions of information processing equipment, research and
development, all other intellectual property products, and all other
capital services may not sum to the contribution of capital intensity
due to independent rounding.
Table C. Multifactor productivity measures in the private nonfarm
business and private business sectors for the 1987-2014 period,
previous and revised
Annual percent change from previous year
Private Nonfarm Business Private Business
Year Previous Revised Previous Revised
1988 1.0 1.2 0.7 1.0
1989 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4
1990 0.4 0.6 0.7 0.9
1991 -0.8 -0.4 -0.8 -0.5
1992 2.5 3.2 2.8 3.3
1993 -0.1 -0.3 -0.2 -0.4
1994 0.7 0.6 0.7 0.6
1995 0.3 -0.2 0.0 -0.5
1996 1.5 1.6 1.8 1.9
1997 0.7 0.9 0.9 1.2
1998 1.7 1.2 1.6 1.3
1999 1.7 1.9 1.9 2.1
2000 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.7
2001 0.5 0.5 0.6 0.5
2002 2.0 2.1 2.0 2.1
2003 2.3 2.2 2.5 2.4
2004 2.7 2.5 2.8 2.5
2005 1.3 1.5 1.3 1.5
2006 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3
2007 0.4 0.6 0.3 0.5
2008 -1.3 -1.3 -1.2 -1.2
2009 -0.2 -0.3 0.0 -0.2
2010 2.8 2.9 2.7 2.9
2011 0.0 0.2 -0.1 0.1
2012 0.8 0.8 0.7 0.6
2013 0.9 -0.1 1.1 0.2
2014 0.8 0.7 0.6 0.7
Technical Notes
Capital Services
Capital services are the services derived from the stock of physical
assets and intellectual property assets. There are 90 asset types for
fixed business equipment, structures, inventories, land, and intellectual
property products. Data on investment for fixed assets are obtained from
BEA. Data on inventories are estimated using BEA and additional information
from IRS Corporation Income Returns. Data for land in the farm sector are
obtained from USDA. Nonfarm industry detail for land is based on IRS book
value data. Current-dollar value-added data, obtained from BEA, are used
in estimating capital rental prices.
BLS provides additional detail in tables 5 and 6 on information processing
equipment and intellectual property products. Information processing
equipment is composed of three broad classes of assets: computers and
related equipment, communications equipment, and other information processing
equipment. Computers and related equipment includes mainframe computers,
personal computers, printers, terminals, tape drives, storage devices, and
integrated systems. Communications equipment is not further differentiated.
Other information processing equipment includes medical equipment and related
instruments, electromedical instruments, nonmedical instruments, photocopying
and related equipment, and office and accounting machinery. Intellectual
property products are composed of three broad classes of assets: software,
research and development, and artistic originals. Software is comprised of
pre-packaged, custom, and own-account software. Research and development is
creative work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge for the purpose
of discovering or developing new products or improving existing ones.
Artistic originals include theatrical movies, long-lived television programs,
books, music, and other forms of entertainment. Structures include
nonresidential structures and residential capital that are rented out by
profit-making firms or persons.
Financial assets are excluded from capital services measures, as are
owner-occupied residential structures. The aggregate capital services
measures are obtained by Tornqvist aggregation of the capital stocks
for each asset type within each of 60 NAICS industry groupings using
estimated rental prices for each asset type. Each rental price reflects
the nominal rate of return to all assets within the industry and rates
of economic depreciation and revaluation for the specific asset; rental
prices are adjusted for the effects of taxes. Current-dollar capital costs
can be defined as each asset’s rental price multiplied by its constant-dollar
stock, adjusting for capital composition effects.
Labor Input
Labor input in private business and private nonfarm business is
obtained by a chained superlative Tornqvist aggregation of the
hours at work, classified by age, education, and gender with
weights determined by each group’s share of the total wage bill.
Hours paid of employees are largely obtained from the Current Employment
Statistics program (CES). These hours paid are then converted to an at
work basis by using information from the Employment Cost Index (ECI) of
the National Compensation Survey (NCS) benchmarked to the Hours at Work
Survey. Hours at work for nonproduction and supervisory workers are
derived using data from the Current Population Survey (CPS), the CES, and
the NCS. The hours at work of proprietors, unpaid family workers, and
farm employees are derived from the Current Population Survey. Hours at
work data reflect Productivity and Costs data as of the February 4,
2016 “Productivity and Costs” news release (USDL-16-0209). The growth
rate of labor composition is defined as the difference between the growth
rate of weighted labor input and the growth rate of the hours of all persons.
Additional information concerning data sources and methods of measuring
labor composition can be found in Cindy Zoghi, 2007, “Measuring Labor
Composition: A Comparison of Alternate Methodologies”
http://www.bls.gov/bls/fesacp1121407.pdf and in “Changes in the Composition
of Labor for BLS Multifactor Productivity Measures, 2014”
http://www.bls.gov/mfp/mprlabor.pdf.
Combined Inputs
Labor input and capital services are combined using a chained superlative
Tornqvist aggregation, applying weights that represent each component's
share of total costs. The chained superlative Tornqvist index uses changing
weights; the share in each year is averaged with the preceding year's share.
Total costs are defined as the value of output less a portion of taxes on
production and imports. Most taxes on production and imports, such as excise
taxes, are excluded from costs; however, property and motor vehicle taxes
remain in total costs.
Capital Intensity
Capital intensity is the ratio of capital services to hours worked in the
production process. The higher the capital to hours ratio, the more capital
intensive the production process is.
In a production process, profit maximizing/cost-minimizing firms adjust the
factor proportions of capital and labor if the price of one factor falls
relative to the price of the other factor; there would be a tendency for
the firms to substitute the less expensive factor for the more expensive
one. In the short run, changes in hours worked are more variable than changes
in capital services. Changes in hours worked in business cycles can result
in volatility of the capital intensity ratio over short periods of time. In
the long run an increase in wages relative to the price of capital will
induce the firm to substitute capital for labor, resulting in an increase
in capital intensity.
Rising labor costs are, in fact, an incentive for firms to introduce
automated production processes. Industry estimates of capital to hours ratios
can be obtained at http://www.bls.gov/mfp/mprdload.htm.
Value-added Output
Private business sector output is a chain-type, current-weighted index
constructed after excluding from gross domestic product (GDP) the following
outputs: general government, nonprofit institutions, private households
(including owner-occupied housing), and government enterprises. This release
presents data for the private business and private nonfarm business sectors.
The private business sector accounted for approximately 74 percent of gross
domestic product in 2014. Additionally, the private nonfarm business sector
excludes farms from the private business sector, but includes agricultural
services. Multifactor measures exclude government enterprises, while the BLS
quarterly Productivity and Cost series include them. The output measures
are based on the revised National Income and Product Accounts (NIPA) data
released by BEA on January 29, 2016.
Multifactor Productivity
Multifactor productivity measures describe the relationship between output
in real terms and the combined inputs involved in its production. They do
not measure the specific contributions of labor or capital, or any other
factor of production. Rather, multifactor productivity is designed to measure
the joint influences of technological change, efficiency improvements,
returns to scale, reallocation of resources, and other factors on economic
growth, allowing for the effects of capital and labor.
The multifactor productivity indexes for private business and private nonfarm
business are derived by dividing an output index by an index of capital
services and labor input. The output indexes are computed as chained
superlative indexes (Fisher Ideal indexes) of components of real output.
Research and Development
The stock of research and development in private nonfarm business is derived
by aggregating different vintages of constant dollar measures of research
and development expenditures and allowing for depreciation. Current dollar
expenditures for privately financed research and development are obtained
from annual issues of Research and Development in Industry published by the
National Science Foundation. BLS develops price deflators and estimates of
the rate of depreciation.
The research and development data in the private nonfarm business sector
presented here show the effect of spillovers from economic units that conduct
research and development. BEA publishes measures of research and development
investments in each industry that include estimates of the direct returns to
firms conducting such research and development activities. By combining the
direct returns to firms conducting research and development with the
spillover effect of other firms, a picture of the total overall effects
of research and development can be drawn.
Further description of these data and methods can be found in BLS Bulletin
2331 (September 1989), "The Impact of Research and Development on
Productivity Growth." http://www.bls.gov/mfp/mfparchive.htm. BLS measures
of year-to-year contributions of research and development to the private
nonfarm business sector and measures of the stock of research and
development are available at http://www.bls.gov/mfp/rdtable.pdf .
Other Information
Comprehensive tables containing additional data beyond the scope of
this press release are available upon request at 202-691-5606 or at
http://www.bls.gov/mfp/mprdload.htm . More detailed information on
methods, limitations, and data sources of capital and labor are provided
in BLS Bulletin 2178 (September 1983), “Trends in Multifactor Productivity,
1948-81” http://www.bls.gov/mfp/mfparchive.htm, and on the BLS Multifactor
Productivity website under the title “Technical Information About the BLS
Multifactor Productivity Measures” for Major Sectors and 18 NAICS 3-digit
Manufacturing Industries at http://www.bls.gov/mfp/mprtech.pdf. General
information is available on the BLS Multifactor Productivity website at
http://www.bls.gov/mfp/mprover.htm. Additional data not contained in the
release, can be obtained in print or at http://www.bls.gov/mfp. A number
of comprehensive tables set up as zip files can be downloaded at
http://www.bls.gov/mfp/mprdload.htm. Included in the additional data
available in the home page is a zip file containing selected multifactor
productivity data that links 1948- 87 SIC data to NAICS data from 1987
forward. This file includes data for the private business and private
nonfarm business sector.
Table 1. Private nonfarm business sector: productivity and related measures
for the 1987-2014 period1
Annual percent change from previous year
Output
per Combined
unit of Multi- units of
Labor capital factor Value- labor and
produc- servic- Product- Added Capital capital Capital
Year tivity2 es ivity3 Output4 Labor5 Services6 services7 Intensity8
1988 1.7 0.8 1.2 4.6 3.2 3.8 3.4 0.9
1989 0.9 -0.3 0.2 3.7 3.2 4.0 3.5 1.2
1990 2.1 -1.8 0.6 1.5 -0.3 3.4 0.9 4.0
1991 2.0 -3.4 -0.4 -0.5 -1.5 3.0 -0.1 5.6
1992 4.3 1.6 3.2 4.1 0.2 2.5 0.9 2.7
1993 0.2 0.0 -0.3 3.2 3.7 3.2 3.5 0.2
1994 1.0 1.0 0.6 4.7 4.3 3.6 4.1 0.0
1995 0.8 -0.8 -0.2 3.6 3.5 4.4 3.8 1.6
1996 2.7 -0.2 1.6 4.6 2.0 4.8 2.9 3.0
1997 1.6 -0.2 0.9 5.3 3.7 5.5 4.3 1.9
1998 3.1 -0.8 1.2 5.3 3.0 6.2 4.0 4.0
1999 3.4 -0.9 1.9 5.6 2.2 6.5 3.6 4.3
2000 3.4 -1.9 1.6 4.4 1.1 6.4 2.7 5.4
2001 3.0 -3.7 0.5 0.9 -1.5 4.7 0.4 7.0
2002 4.3 -1.4 2.1 1.8 -1.9 3.2 -0.3 5.8
2003 3.5 0.5 2.2 3.2 0.1 2.6 0.9 3.0
2004 3.0 2.0 2.5 4.5 1.7 2.5 2.0 1.0
2005 1.9 0.7 1.5 3.8 1.8 3.1 2.3 1.2
2006 0.9 -0.2 0.3 3.3 2.7 3.5 3.0 1.1
2007 1.7 -0.6 0.6 2.4 1.1 3.0 1.8 2.3
2008 0.8 -3.8 -1.3 -1.3 -1.4 2.6 0.0 4.7
2009 3.4 -4.9 -0.3 -4.1 -6.3 0.8 -3.8 8.7
2010 3.2 2.8 2.9 3.2 0.2 0.4 0.3 0.4
2011 0.1 1.2 0.2 2.2 2.6 1.0 2.0 -1.1
2012 0.8 1.8 0.8 3.1 2.9 1.3 2.3 -1.0
2013 -0.1 -0.1 -0.1 1.8 1.9 1.8 1.9 0.0
2014 0.7 1.0 0.7 3.1 2.5 2.1 2.4 -0.3
See footnotes following table 4.
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics
Table 2. Private business sector: productivity and related measures
for the 1987-2014 period1
Annual percent change from previous year
Output
per Combined
unit of Multi- units of
Labor capital factor Value- labor and
produc- servic- Product- Added Capital capital Capital
Year tivity2 es ivity3 Output4 Labor5 Services6 services7 Intensity8
1988 1.5 0.4 1.0 4.3 3.0 3.9 3.3 1.1
1989 1.1 -0.1 0.4 3.9 3.1 3.9 3.4 1.2
1990 2.4 -1.6 0.9 1.6 -0.5 3.3 0.8 4.0
1991 1.9 -3.2 -0.5 -0.5 -1.5 2.8 -0.1 5.3
1992 4.5 1.9 3.3 4.3 0.2 2.3 0.9 2.5
1993 0.2 -0.1 -0.4 3.0 3.5 3.0 3.3 0.3
1994 0.9 1.3 0.6 4.9 4.6 3.5 4.3 -0.5
1995 0.4 -0.9 -0.5 3.2 3.5 4.2 3.7 1.4
1996 3.1 0.1 1.9 4.7 1.8 4.6 2.7 3.0
1997 1.9 0.0 1.2 5.3 3.5 5.3 4.1 1.9
1998 3.2 -0.8 1.3 5.2 2.9 6.0 3.9 4.0
1999 3.6 -0.7 2.1 5.6 2.0 6.3 3.4 4.3
2000 3.6 -1.6 1.7 4.5 1.1 6.2 2.7 5.2
2001 3.1 -3.6 0.5 0.8 -1.7 4.6 0.3 7.0
2002 4.2 -1.2 2.1 1.8 -1.8 3.0 -0.3 5.5
2003 3.7 0.7 2.4 3.2 0.0 2.5 0.8 3.0
2004 3.1 2.0 2.5 4.5 1.7 2.5 1.9 1.1
2005 2.0 0.7 1.5 3.8 1.8 3.2 2.3 1.3
2006 1.0 -0.3 0.3 3.2 2.6 3.5 2.9 1.2
2007 1.5 -0.7 0.5 2.2 1.0 2.9 1.7 2.3
2008 0.8 -3.4 -1.2 -1.2 -1.3 2.3 0.0 4.4
2009 3.6 -4.5 -0.2 -3.9 -6.2 0.7 -3.7 8.5
2010 3.2 2.8 2.9 3.2 0.3 0.4 0.3 0.4
2011 0.0 1.0 0.1 2.1 2.6 1.1 2.0 -1.0
2012 0.6 1.4 0.6 2.9 2.9 1.5 2.3 -0.9
2013 0.4 0.2 0.2 2.0 1.8 1.9 1.8 0.2
2014 0.6 1.0 0.7 3.1 2.6 2.0 2.4 -0.5
See footnotes following table 4.
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics
Table 3. Private nonfarm business sector: indexes of productivity and related
measures, 1987-2014(1)
Indexes 2009=100
Output
per Combined
unit of Multi- units of
Labor capital factor Value- labor and
produc- servic- Product- Added Capital capital Capital
Year tivity2 es ivity3 Output4 Labor5 Services6 services7 Intensity8
1987 61.2 120.6 82.0 53.4 78.8 44.2 65.1 50.7
1988 62.2 121.5 83.0 55.8 81.3 45.9 67.3 51.2
1989 62.7 121.2 83.1 57.9 83.9 47.8 69.6 51.8
1990 64.1 118.9 83.6 58.8 83.7 49.4 70.3 53.9
1991 65.3 114.9 83.3 58.4 82.4 50.9 70.2 56.9
1992 68.1 116.7 85.9 60.8 82.5 52.1 70.8 58.4
1993 68.3 116.7 85.6 62.8 85.6 53.8 73.3 58.5
1994 69.0 117.9 86.1 65.7 89.2 55.7 76.3 58.5
1995 69.5 117.0 85.9 68.1 92.4 58.2 79.2 59.4
1996 71.4 116.7 87.3 71.2 94.2 61.0 81.5 61.2
1997 72.6 116.4 88.1 74.9 97.7 64.3 85.0 62.3
1998 74.9 115.5 89.2 78.9 100.6 68.3 88.4 64.8
1999 77.4 114.5 90.9 83.3 102.9 72.8 91.6 67.6
2000 80.0 112.3 92.4 87.0 104.0 77.4 94.1 71.2
2001 82.5 108.2 92.9 87.7 102.4 81.1 94.5 76.2
2002 86.0 106.7 94.8 89.3 100.4 83.7 94.1 80.6
2003 89.1 107.2 96.9 92.1 100.6 85.9 95.0 83.0
2004 91.7 109.4 99.3 96.2 102.3 88.0 96.9 83.9
2005 93.5 110.1 100.8 99.9 104.2 90.7 99.1 84.9
2006 94.3 109.9 101.1 103.2 107.0 93.9 102.1 85.8
2007 95.9 109.2 101.7 105.6 108.2 96.7 103.9 87.8
2008 96.7 105.1 100.3 104.3 106.7 99.2 103.9 92.0
2009 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
2010 103.2 102.8 102.9 103.2 100.2 100.4 100.3 100.4
2011 103.2 104.1 103.2 105.5 102.8 101.4 102.3 99.2
2012 104.0 105.9 104.0 108.8 105.8 102.8 104.6 98.2
2013 103.9 105.8 103.9 110.8 107.8 104.7 106.6 98.2
2014 104.6 106.9 104.7 114.2 110.5 106.8 109.1 97.9
See footnotes following table 4.
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics
Table 4. Private business sector: indexes of productivity and related
measures, 1987-2014(1)
Indexes 2009=100
Output
per Combined
unit of Multi- units of
Labor capital factor Value- labor and
produc- servic- Product- Added Capital capital Capital
Year tivity2 es ivity3 Output4 Labor5 Services6 services7 Intensity8
1987 60.3 117.3 80.8 53.3 79.6 45.4 65.9 51.4
1988 61.3 117.8 81.6 55.6 82.0 47.2 68.1 52.0
1989 62.0 117.7 82.0 57.7 84.6 49.0 70.4 52.6
1990 63.5 115.9 82.7 58.7 84.2 50.6 70.9 54.8
1991 64.7 112.1 82.3 58.3 83.0 52.0 70.9 57.7
1992 67.6 114.2 85.0 60.8 83.2 53.3 71.6 59.1
1993 67.7 114.2 84.7 62.6 86.1 54.9 73.9 59.3
1994 68.3 115.7 85.2 65.7 90.0 56.8 77.1 59.0
1995 68.6 114.6 84.8 67.8 93.2 59.2 80.0 59.9
1996 70.7 114.7 86.4 71.0 94.9 61.9 82.2 61.6
1997 72.0 114.7 87.4 74.8 98.2 65.2 85.6 62.8
1998 74.3 113.9 88.5 78.7 101.1 69.1 88.9 65.3
1999 77.0 113.0 90.4 83.1 103.1 73.5 91.9 68.1
2000 79.7 111.2 92.0 86.8 104.2 78.0 94.4 71.6
2001 82.2 107.2 92.4 87.5 102.5 81.6 94.6 76.6
2002 85.7 105.9 94.4 89.1 100.6 84.1 94.4 80.9
2003 88.8 106.7 96.6 91.9 100.7 86.2 95.1 83.3
2004 91.6 108.8 99.1 96.1 102.3 88.3 97.0 84.2
2005 93.4 109.5 100.6 99.8 104.2 91.1 99.2 85.3
2006 94.3 109.2 100.9 103.1 106.9 94.3 102.1 86.4
2007 95.8 108.5 101.4 105.3 108.0 97.1 103.9 88.3
2008 96.6 104.7 100.2 104.1 106.6 99.3 103.9 92.2
2009 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
2010 103.2 102.8 102.9 103.2 100.3 100.4 100.3 100.4
2011 103.1 103.8 103.0 105.4 102.9 101.5 102.3 99.3
2012 103.7 105.3 103.6 108.5 105.8 103.0 104.7 98.5
2013 104.1 105.5 103.8 110.7 107.7 104.9 106.6 98.7
2014 104.7 106.6 104.6 114.1 110.4 107.1 109.1 98.2
See footnotes following table 4.
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics
Footnotes, Tables 1-4
Source: The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) develops productivity measures
using output and compensation data published by the Bureau of
Economic Analysis (BEA), hours data published by other BLS programs,
and capital data supplied by BEA and U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Also see Technical Notes in this release.
(1) The private business sector covers gross domestic product with the
exception of the output of general government, government
enterprises, non-profit institutions, the rental value of owner-
occupied real estate, and the output of paid employees of private
households. The private nonfarm business sector further excludes
farms but includes agricultural services.
(2) Output per hour worked.
(3) Output per combined units of labor input and capital services.
(4) Gross domestic product originating in the sector, chained superlative
index.
(5) Index of hours at work of all persons including employees,
proprietors, and unpaid family workers, classified by age, education,
and gender. This chained superlative index is computed by combining
changes in the hours of each age, education, and gender group weighted
by each group’s share of the total wage bill.
(6) A measure of the flow of capital services used in the sector.
Capital services measure the services derived from the stock of
physical assets and intellectual property products.
(7) The growth rates of labor input and capital services are combined
by weighting with their respective shares of current dollar costs,
and aggregating into a chained superlative index.
(8) Capital services per hour.
Table 5. Real capital services by asset type, private nonfarm business sector,
1987-2014
Compound annual growth rates
1987- 1987- 1990- 1995- 2000- 2007- 2013-
2014 1990 1995 2000 2007 2014 2014
All Assets 3.3 3.8 3.3 5.9 3.2 1.4 2.1
Equipment 4.5 3.7 4.1 8.9 4.5 1.8 2.9
Information
Processing
Equipment (IPE) 9.1 8.8 8.1 18.4 8.6 4.2 3.0
Computers &
related equipment 17.1 18.7 15.7 40.7 13.7 6.1 2.5
Communication
equipment 7.0 5.8 5.2 10.8 8.5 4.8 4.1
Other IPE 2.6 2.5 3.7 3.4 2.5 1.4 2.1
All other equipment 2.3 1.4 2.2 4.6 2.7 0.9 2.9
Structures 1.6 2.9 1.9 2.2 1.2 0.9 1.0
Intellectual property
products 5.7 8.1 6.6 8.4 4.9 2.9 3.3
Research
&
Development 3.8 5.7 4.1 4.6 2.9 3.1 3.3
Software 10.2 17.8 13.6 17.0 7.5 3.1 3.9
Artistic
Originals 3.3 3.7 3.4 4.0 3.6 2.3 2.2
Residential rental 1.2 1.9 0.9 1.8 2.2 -0.3 -0.2
capital
Inventories 2.4 3.4 2.3 4.4 2.2 0.9 3.1
Land 0.7 1.7 1.2 1.3 0.6 -0.4 1.0
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics
Note: For a brief discussion of methods used in preparing these data,
see Technical Notes in this release.
Table 6. Real capital services by asset type, private business sector,
1987-2014
Compound annual growth rates
1987- 1987- 1990- 1995- 2000- 2007- 2013-
2014 1990 1995 2000 2007 2014 2014
All Assets 3.2 3.7 3.2 5.7 3.2 1.4 2.0
Equipment 4.4 3.4 3.9 8.8 4.5 1.9 3.0
Information
Processing
Equipment (IPE) 9.1 8.9 8.1 18.4 8.6 4.3 3.1
Computers &
related equipment 17.1 18.7 15.8 40.7 13.7 6.1 2.5
Communication
equipment 7.0 5.8 5.2 10.8 8.5 4.8 4.1
Other IPE 2.8 2.6 3.8 3.5 2.7 1.8 2.5
All other equipment 2.2 1.1 1.9 4.5 2.7 1.0 3.0
Structures 1.6 2.8 1.9 2.1 1.2 0.9 1.0
Intellectual property
products 5.7 8.1 6.6 8.4 4.9 2.9 3.3
Research
&
Development 3.8 5.7 4.1 4.6 2.9 3.1 3.3
Software 10.2 17.8 13.6 17.0 7.5 3.1 3.9
Artistic
Originals 3.3 3.7 3.4 4.0 3.6 2.3 2.2
Residential rental 1.2 1.9 0.9 1.8 2.2 -0.3 -0.2
capital
Inventories 2.3 2.9 2.3 4.2 2.2 0.8 3.2
Land 0.7 3.3 1.0 0.9 0.6 -0.5 0.3
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics
Note: For a brief discussion of methods used in preparing these data,
see Technical Notes in this release.
United States Department of Labor
