For release 10:00 a.m. (ET) Wednesday, June 24, 2026 USDL-26-1021
Technical information: (202) 691-5606 productivity@bls.gov www.bls.gov/productivity
Media contact: (202) 691-5902 PressOffice@bls.gov
TOTAL FACTOR PRODUCTIVITY FOR DETAILED INDUSTRIES - 2023
Total factor productivity -- defined as output per unit of combined inputs -- fell in 70 of the 86 four-digit
NAICS manufacturing industries in 2023, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Among
durable manufacturing industries, 42 of 51 had total factor productivity declines led by an 18.7-percent
fall in the spring and wire product industry. Total factor productivity declined in 28 of 35 nondurable
manufacturing industries led by an 11.8-percent drop in the beverages industry.
Four of the 11 largest manufacturing industries (those with employment over 350,000 workers)
experienced increasing total factor productivity in 2023: aerospace products and parts (+3.3 percent),
electronic instruments (+1.5 percent), animal slaughtering and processing (+1.1 percent), and
pharmaceutical and medicines (+0.6 percent). Output declined in 7 of these 11 industries led by a 9.3-
percent decrease in printing and related support activities. Combined inputs (capital, hours worked,
energy, materials, and purchased services) declined in 2 of these 11 industries: printing and related
support activities (-4.0 percent) and animal slaughtering and processing (-2.1 percent). (See table 1.)
Four of the 16 industries with rising total factor productivity in 2023 had increases of more than 8.0
percent:
Agricultural chemicals (+13.4 percent)
Fiber, yarn, and thread mills (+9.8 percent)
Plywood and engineered wood products (+9.4 percent)
Sawmills and wood preservation (+8.2 percent)
Seven industries posted total factor productivity declines of more than 10.0 percent:
Spring and wire products (-18.7 percent)
Other electrical equipment and components (-15.0 percent)
Electrical lighting equipment (-13.0 percent)
Glass and glass products (-12.7 percent)
Beverages (-11.8 percent)
Soaps, cleaning compounds, and toiletries (-11.2 percent)
Paints, coatings, and adhesives (-10.5 percent)
Total Factor Productivity: Definition and Concepts
Changes in total factor productivity show the relationship between changes in real output and the
combined inputs used to produce that output. These combined inputs include hours worked, capital, and
intermediate inputs (energy, materials, and purchased services).
Measures of total factor productivity capture a variety of factors that influence economic growth that are
not specifically accounted for among measured inputs, including technological change, returns to scale,
enhancements in managerial and staff skills, changes in the organization of production, and other
efficiency improvements. Total factor productivity reflects these factors. See the technical note for more
information.
Components of Total Factor Productivity Growth: Output and Combined Inputs
Output increased in 22 of 86 manufacturing industries in 2023, compared to 42 industries in 2022.
Among the industries that posted output gains in 2023, the following seven industries had increases of
6.5 percent or more:
Agricultural chemicals (+20.8 percent)
Motor vehicles (+18.7 percent)
Aerospace products and parts (+9.6 percent)
Computer and peripheral equipment (+9.2 percent)
Plywood and engineered wood products (+7.1 percent)
Electrical equipment (+6.6 percent)
Electronic instruments (+6.5 percent)
Combined inputs of capital, labor, and intermediate inputs rose in 56 of 86 manufacturing industries in
2023, compared to 62 in 2022. Thirty-nine industries saw increases in hours worked. Intermediate inputs
grew in 56 industries. Capital also increased in 31 of the industries reported.
Of the industries with rising combined inputs in 2023, 5 had gains of more than 7.0 percent:
Motor vehicles (+15.3 percent)
Electrical equipment (+9.4 percent)
Animal food (+9.0 percent)
Footwear (+8.5 percent)
Petroleum and coal products (+7.4 percent)
Trends in Total Factor Productivity for Selected Time Periods
Year-to-year movements and long-term trends in industry total factor productivity may reflect cyclical
changes in the economy. However, long-term average annual percent changes in total factor productivity
are more reliable indicators of historical trends in industry performance.
More industries saw total factor productivity growth over the long term than in the short term. From
1987 to 2023, total factor productivity grew in 56 out of 86 manufacturing industries, compared to 16
from 2022 to 2023. (See tables 1 and 2.) Annual rates of change in total factor productivity for all but 4
manufacturing industries ranged between -2.0 percent and +2.0 percent per year over the long term. In
contrast, total factor productivity decreased by 2.0 percent or more in 63 industries in 2023.
Although the distribution of total factor productivity growth for all the manufacturing industries may
change significantly annually, 48 out of 86 industries are clustered between an increase of 0.1 percent
and 1.0 percent in the long run.
Between 1987 and 2023, the number of manufacturing industries with growth in total factor productivity
was highest in 1992, 2003, 2010, and 2021. These were years of economic growth following recessions.
In contrast, relatively few manufacturing industries had total factor productivity growth in the recession
years of 1991, 2001, and 2009. Few industries also recorded total factor productivity growth in 2022 and
2023.
Annual percent changes in total factor productivity by industry for periods between 1987 and 2023 are
provided in table 3. Seventy manufacturing industries had total factor productivity growth from 2000 to
2007, the most of any period. The 1990 to 2000 period recorded the highest number of industries with
growth in output (76) and combined inputs (70).
Total Factor Productivity as a Source of Labor Productivity Growth
Total factor productivity measures differ from the BLS labor productivity measures because they
compare output to the combined inputs of hours worked, capital, and intermediate inputs. Labor
productivity relates output only to hours worked. Mathematically, an industrys labor productivity is
equal to total factor productivity plus the effects of factor substitutions, also known as the contributions
of capital intensity and of intermediate inputs intensity. The contribution of capital intensity to labor
productivity refers to the change that is directly attributed to the use of capital relative to labor hours.
Similarly, the contribution of intermediate inputs intensity refers to the change that is directly attributed
to the use of purchased inputs relative to labor hours.
Seventy-eight of the 86 manufacturing industries posted gains in labor productivity from 1987 to 2023.
Among these industries, substitution of intermediate inputs for labor was the leading source of labor
productivity growth. (See table 4.) Growth in the contribution of intermediate inputs intensity occurs
when firms purchase a greater share of materials instead of using their own labor. Contribution of
intermediate inputs intensity may also rise when firms substitute contracted labor for payroll labor.
For the majority of industries with labor productivity growth between 1987 and 2000, the contribution of
intermediate inputs intensity was the primary source of such growth. For many industries that
experienced labor productivity growth during the 2000-2007 period, the greatest source of growth was
from the contributions of total factor productivity. For the 2007-2019 and 2019-2023 periods,
intermediate inputs intensity returned as the most frequent driver of labor productivity growth for
industries with increasing labor productivity.
There were 13 manufacturing industries with labor productivity growth of at least 2.0 percent per year
from 1987 to 2023. Of these 13 industries, total factor productivity was the dominant source of labor
productivity growth in 7, including 4 industries that manufacture computers and electronic products
(computer and peripheral equipment, semiconductors and electronic components, communications
equipment, and audio and video equipment). Uniquely, the tobacco industrys labor productivity growth
was fueled by the contribution of capital intensity.
Additional Information
Measures of output and combined inputs for this release incorporate data from the U.S. Census Bureaus
2023 Annual Integrated Economic Survey (AIES). In years without an Economic Census, total factor
productivity measures for detailed manufacturing industries used to be based on data from the Annual
Survey of Manufactures (ASM), also produced by the Census Bureau. That survey has been replaced by
the AIES beginning in 2023. The ASM was generally published about 1 year after the end of the
calendar year being measured. Because of the longer publication schedule of the 2022 Economic Census
and the transition to the AIES, the 2023 total factor productivity data for detailed industries are being
published with a 1-year lag behind BLSs typical publication schedule.
Durable manufacturing industries are those which produce durable goods. These are defined as tangible
products that can be stored or inventoried and that have an average life of at least 3 years, including
vehicles, appliances, and computers. Durable goods manufacturing industries are classified by the North
American Industry Classification System (NAICS) under the codes beginning with 321, 327, 331, 332,
333, 334, 335, 336, 337, and 339.
Nondurable manufacturing industries are those which produce nondurable goods. These are defined as
tangible products that can be stored or inventoried and that have an average life of less than 3 years,
including food products, chemicals, and apparel. Nondurable goods manufacturing industries are
classified by NAICS under the codes beginning with 311, 312, 313, 314, 315, 316, 322, 323, 324, 325,
and 326.
Access www.bls.gov/productivity/tables/total-factor-productivity-manufacturing-and-transportation-
detailed-industries.xlsx for:
Additional industries and sectors, including air transportation and line-haul railroads
Detailed data series: indexes of total factor productivity and related measures; rates of change;
and levels of industry employment, hours worked, sectoral output, and labor compensation
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