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Multifactor productivity in private nonfarm business sector up 0.8 percent in 2014

June 30, 2015

Private nonfarm business sector multifactor productivity increased at a 0.8 percent annual rate in 2014. This 2014 gain reflected a 3.1-percent increase in output and a 2.3-percent increase in the combined inputs of capital and labor.

Productivity and related measures, private nonfarm business sector, percentage change from previous year, 1988–2014
Year Multifactor
productivity
   Output    Combined units
of labor input
and capital services
Capital services Labor input Capital services
per hour
of all persons
Output per hour
of all persons
Output per unit
of capital services

1988

1.0 4.6 3.6 3.8 3.5 0.9 1.7 0.7

1989

0.1 3.7 3.6 4.1 3.4 1.2 0.9 -0.3

1990

0.4 1.5 1.1 3.5 0.0 4.0 2.1 -1.8

1991

-0.8 -0.5 0.2 3.0 -1.1 5.7 2.0 -3.5

1992

2.5 4.1 1.5 2.5 1.0 2.7 4.3 1.5

1993

-0.1 3.2 3.3 3.3 3.4 0.3 0.2 -0.1

1994

0.7 4.7 4.0 3.6 4.1 0.0 1.0 1.0

1995

0.3 3.6 3.2 4.4 2.6 1.6 0.8 -0.8

1996

1.5 4.6 3.0 4.8 2.1 2.9 2.7 -0.2

1997

0.7 5.3 4.5 5.5 4.1 1.8 1.6 -0.2

1998

1.7 5.3 3.6 6.2 2.4 4.0 3.1 -0.8

1999

1.7 5.6 3.8 6.7 2.5 4.4 3.4 -1.0

2000

1.5 4.4 2.8 6.5 1.1 5.5 3.4 -2.0

2001

0.5 0.9 0.3 4.8 -1.6 7.0 3.0 -3.7

2002

2.0 1.8 -0.2 3.3 -1.8 5.9 4.3 -1.5

2003

2.3 3.2 0.8 2.7 -0.1 3.1 3.5 0.4

2004

2.7 4.5 1.7 2.5 1.3 1.0 3.0 2.0

2005

1.3 3.8 2.4 3.2 2.1 1.3 1.9 0.6

2006

0.3 3.3 3.0 3.5 2.7 1.1 0.9 -0.2

2007

0.4 2.4 2.0 3.1 1.4 2.4 1.7 -0.7

2008

-1.3 -1.3 0.0 2.6 -1.4 4.8 0.8 -3.8

2009

-0.2 -4.1 -3.9 0.9 -6.5 8.8 3.4 -4.9

2010

2.8 3.2 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 3.2 2.8

2011

0.0 2.2 2.3 1.1 2.9 -1.1 0.0 1.1

2012

0.8 3.3 2.4 1.5 3.0 -0.8 0.9 1.8

2013

0.9 2.7 1.8 1.7 1.8 -0.1 0.9 1.0

2014

0.8 3.1 2.3 2.1 2.4 -0.1 0.8 0.9

Capital services grew by 2.1 percent in 2014, which was the largest annual increase since a 2.6-percent increase in 2008. Labor input (which is the combined effect of hours worked and labor composition) grew by 2.4 percent. Capital services per hour of all persons continued on a steady decline of 0.1 percent in 2014; the fourth consecutive decline in this measure.

These data are from the Multifactor Productivity program. To learn more, see “Preliminary Multifactor Productivity Trends — 2014,” (HTML) (PDF). Multifactor productivity measures the change in output per unit of combined capital and labor inputs. It is designed to measure the joint influences of technological change, efficiency improvements, returns to scale, reallocation of resources, and other factors affecting economic growth, allowing for the effects of capital and labor.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Multifactor productivity in private nonfarm business sector up 0.8 percent in 2014 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2015/multifactor-productivity-in-private-nonfarm-business-sector-2014.htm (visited March 28, 2024).

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