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Productivity falls 1.8 percent (annual rate) in 4th quarter 2014
February 11, 2015
Labor productivity in nonfarm businesses decreased at a 1.8-percent annual rate during the fourth quarter of 2014. This resulted from a 3.2-percent increase in output—all the goods and services produced—and a 5.1-percent increase in hours worked. The increase in hours worked is the largest increase in this series since a gain of 5.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 1998.
Nonfarm business sector productivity, output, and hours, percent change from previous quarter at annual rate, first quarter 2004–fourth quarter 2014
Quarter
Productivity
Output
Hours
Q1 2004
-0.1
1.6
1.8
Q2 2004
4.0
4.2
0.2
Q3 2004
1.3
4.0
2.6
Q4 2004
1.3
3.5
2.2
Q1 2005
4.4
5.2
0.7
Q2 2005
-0.4
2.1
2.6
Q3 2005
3.0
3.9
0.9
Q4 2005
0.2
2.8
2.6
Q1 2006
2.5
6.3
3.7
Q2 2006
-0.3
0.8
1.1
Q3 2006
-1.8
0.5
2.3
Q4 2006
3.2
4.5
1.2
Q1 2007
0.4
0.5
0.1
Q2 2007
2.6
4.1
1.4
Q3 2007
4.6
3.4
-1.2
Q4 2007
1.8
0.8
-0.9
Q1 2008
-3.9
-5.1
-1.2
Q2 2008
4.0
2.0
-1.9
Q3 2008
1.0
-3.2
-4.2
Q4 2008
-2.5
-11.8
-9.6
Q1 2009
3.2
-7.3
-10.1
Q2 2009
7.9
-1.2
-8.4
Q3 2009
6.0
0.9
-4.8
Q4 2009
4.8
5.1
0.3
Q1 2010
2.2
2.2
0.0
Q2 2010
1.3
4.7
3.4
Q3 2010
2.3
4.1
1.8
Q4 2010
1.5
3.8
2.3
Q1 2011
-3.2
-2.5
0.8
Q2 2011
1.3
4.5
3.1
Q3 2011
-0.9
1.1
2.0
Q4 2011
3.1
5.8
2.6
Q1 2012
0.2
3.3
3.2
Q2 2012
1.8
2.3
0.5
Q3 2012
1.7
3.7
2.0
Q4 2012
-2.0
0.1
2.2
Q1 2013
0.8
2.4
1.6
Q2 2013
0.5
2.0
1.5
Q3 2013
3.6
5.6
1.9
Q4 2013
3.3
4.7
1.4
Q1 2014
-4.5
-2.4
2.1
Q2 2014
2.9
5.5
2.5
Q3 2014
3.7
6.3
2.5
Q4 2014
-1.8
3.2
5.1
From the fourth quarter of 2013 to the fourth quarter of 2014, productivity did not change, as the amount produced and hours worked both increased 3.1 percent.
These data are from the BLS Labor Productivity and Costs program. All quarterly percent changes shown are seasonally adjusted annual rates. To learn more, see “Productivity and Costs — Fourth Quarter and Annual Averages 2014, Preliminary,” (HTML) (PDF). Labor productivity is calculated by dividing inflation-adjusted output by hours worked for all employees, business owners, and unpaid family workers.
United States Department of Labor
