Nonfarm business productivity, second quarter 2012

Nonfarm business sector labor productivity increased at a 2.2-percent annual rate during the second quarter of 2012, reflecting increases of 2.4 percent in output and 0.1 percent in hours worked. From the second quarter of 2011 to the second quarter of 2012, productivity increased 1.2 percent, as output and hours worked rose 3.0 percent and 1.7 percent, respectively.

[Chart data]

Unit labor costs in nonfarm businesses increased 1.5 percent in the second quarter of 2012, while hourly compensation increased 3.7 percent. Unit labor costs rose 0.9 percent over the last four quarters.

Manufacturing sector productivity rose 0.1 percent in the second quarter of 2012, as output grew 1.5 percent and hours worked increased 1.4 percent. Over the last four quarters, manufacturing productivity increased 2.9 percent, as output increased 5.5 percent and hours rose 2.6 percent.

These data are from the Labor Productivity and Costs program, are seasonally adjusted, and are revised. To learn more, see “Productivity and Costs, Second Quarter 2012 Revised” (HTML) (PDF), news release USDL-12-1795. Labor productivity, or output per hour, is calculated by dividing an index of real output by an index of hours of all persons, including employees, proprietors, and unpaid family workers. Unit labor costs are the ratio of hourly compensation to labor productivity.