Unit labor costs and productivity in manufacturing, 2010
February 07, 2011
From 2009 to 2010, unit labor costs in the manufacturing sector fell 4.5 percent—the largest decline since the series began in 1988.
[Chart data]
Over the year, labor productivity—defined as output per hour—grew 6.0 percent in 2010. This increase was the largest annual increase in output per hour since 2003, when output per hour increased 6.3 percent. The productivity gain reflected a 6.6-percent increase in output combined with a 0.6-percent increase in hours.
[Chart data]
From 2009 to 2010, productivity grew 8.2 percent in durable goods manufacturing and 3.5 percent in nondurable goods industries.
These data are from the Productivity and Costs program and are subject to revision. For more information, see "Productivity and Costs: Fourth Quarter and Annual Averages 2010, Preliminary" (HTML) (PDF), news release USDL-11-0128.
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United States Department of Labor
