For release 10:00 a.m. (ET) Wednesday, August 26, 2026 USDL-26-1421
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 - 2025
Labor productivity rose in 15 of 30 selected service-providing industries in 2025, the U.S. Bureau of Labor
Statistics reported today. Output rose in 18 industries in 2025 while hours worked increased in the same
number of industries. Productivity ranged from a 10.8-percent decline in wired telecommunications carriers
to a 12.9-percent gain in software publishers. Unit labor costs increased in 24 of 30 selected industries in
2025. Couriers and messengers had the highest increase in unit labor costs (+12.2 percent).
The ten largest industries by number of workers represent 81.4 percent of all workers in the selected
service-providing industries covered by this news release. Among these ten industries, productivity growth
was greatest in software publishers (+12.9 percent) after rising 4.0 percent in 2024. Couriers and
messengers posted the steepest productivity decline - falling 8.5 percent in 2025.
Labor Productivity Rose in Half of Selected Service-Providing Industries in 2025
• Seven industries had simultaneous growth in output and declines in hours worked.
• Productivity exceeded 8.0-percent growth in three industries: software publishers (+12.9 percent),
line-haul railroads (+11.3 percent), and wireless telecommunications carriers (+8.8 percent). Output
increased in all three industries while hours worked decreased.
• The largest drop in productivity occurred in wired telecommunications carriers (-10.8 percent) with
a loss in output (-8.3 percent) and a gain in hours worked (+2.8 percent).
• Productivity in amusement parks and arcades dipped 2.3 percent in 2025 following the largest decline
among measured services industries in 2024.
• Cable and other subscription programming, gambling industries, and air transportation posted the largest
increases in hours worked. Productivity increased in gambling industries, where output increased 11.2
percent offsetting an 8.3 percent rise in hours worked.
Unit Labor Costs Rose in 24 of 30 Selected Service-Providing Industries in 2025
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. Productivity and unit labor costs
simultaneously increased in nine industries. Hourly compensation growth was greater than productivity
growth in all nine industries.
• Four industries had growth in unit labor costs that exceeded 10.0 percent, led by couriers and
messengers (+12.2 percent), cable and other subscription programming (+12.1 percent), periodical
publishers (+11.3 percent), and wired telecommunications carriers (+10.6 percent).
• The largest declines in unit labor costs were in line-haul railroads (-4.4 percent) and wireless
telecommunications carriers (-4.0 percent).
• Hourly compensation rose in 28 of 30 industries measured.
Recent Business Cycle Trends
Labor productivity increased in 20 of 30 selected service-providing industries from 2019 to 2025.
(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 highest productivity gains from 2019 to 2025 were in travel arrangement and reservation services
(+8.3 percent per year) and gambling industries (+8.2 percent).
• The largest annual declines in productivity during this period occurred in air transportation
(-4.7 percent) and postal service (-4.4 percent).
• Productivity increased in 22 of 30 industries over the 2007 to 2019 business cycle.
Output increased in 21 of 30 selected service-providing industries from 2019 to 2025.
• The highest increases in output during this period were in software publishers (+10.6 percent per
year) and gambling (+10.0 percent).
• The steepest annual declines in output during this period occurred in newspaper publishers
(-7.9 percent) and postal service (-5.0 percent).
• From 2007 to 2019, output increased in 23 industries.
Hours worked decreased in 16 of 30 selected service-providing industries from 2019 to 2025.
• The two industries with the largest decreases in hours worked over the 6 years were newspaper publishers
(-8.8 percent per year) and periodical publishers (-5.7 percent).
• The industries with the largest increases in hours worked during this period were warehousing and
storage (+6.8 percent) and air transportation (+6.0 percent).
• Hours worked increased in 16 industries from 2007 to 2019.
Long-Term Productivity Trends Upward Through 2025
Long-term productivity rose in 24 of 30 selected service-providing industries. (See table 2.) Measures
for most industries begin in 1987.
• Median long-term productivity growth for all 30 industries was 1.7 percent per year, ranging from a
decline of 2.3 percent per year for couriers and messengers to an increase of 10.7 percent in wireless
telecommunications carriers.
• Software publishers had the highest rate of output growth (+16.2 percent) contributing to a
9.7-percent annual gain in productivity.
• Output increased over the long term in 27 industries while hours worked increased in 18 industries.
Unit Labor Costs Show Widespread Growth in the Long Run
Since 1987, 26 of 30 selected service-providing 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 (-7.9 percent per
year) to travel arrangement and reservation services (-1.6 percent).
• Couriers and messengers posted the largest increase in unit labor costs (+5.6 percent).
• Median long-term unit labor costs growth was 2.1 percent per year.
• Growth in hourly compensation ranged from 2.0 percent per year for wireless telecommunications
carriers to 5.5 percent for travel arrangement and reservation services. The median growth rate in
hourly compensation for these industries was 3.6 percent.
****************************************************************************************************
* *
* Discontinued Industry Series *
* *
* BLS uses data from a variety of sources to calculate productivity and related measures for *
* industries of the U.S. economy. These sources include data from other BLS programs as well as *
* data from the Census Bureau, the Bureau of Economic Analysis, and other federal and private *
* sources. Beginning with this news release, measures of labor productivity, real sectoral output, *
* output per worker, unit labor costs, sectoral output, sectoral output price deflator, hourly *
* compensation, and labor compensation for some industries have been discontinued due to changes *
* in source data. This affects the following industries: *
* following industries: *
* • 5412 - Accounting, tax preparation, bookkeeping, and payroll services *
* • 54121 - Accounting, tax preparation, bookkeeping, and payroll services *
* • 541219 - Other accounting services *
* *
****************************************************************************************************
Additional Information
The measures in this release incorporate data from the 2022 Economic Census as well as the Census
Bureau's Annual Integrated Economic Survey, Quarterly Services Survey, Monthly Retail Trade Survey,
and Nonemployer Statistics. Accordingly, the labor productivity and output series for many industries
have been revised for 2024 and earlier years. Additionally, the unit labor cost measures incorporate
preliminary data from the BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages.
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 30 selected industries because they are duplicate codes or aggregates for which underlying coverage
is published: 22, 221, 484, 4841, 491, 493, 511, 5111, 515, 5173, 721, 722, and 72251.
Access productivity data 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, sectoral output, and labor compensation
Subscribe to productivity news releases on the BLS website at
https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/USDOLBLS/subscriber/new.
If you are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability, please dial 7-1-1 to access
telecommunications relay services.
United States Department of Labor
