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Radio and television broadcasting and cable see largest productivity increases in 2014
June 17, 2015
Labor productivity—defined as output per hour—rose in 15 of the 25 service-providing industries studied in 2014. In each of the industries where productivity increased, output grew while hours worked either declined or increased more slowly. Productivity grew more than 7.0 percent in three industries: radio and television broadcasting, cable and other subscription programming, and drycleaning and laundry services. In air transportation and natural gas distribution, output grew more than 2.0 percent, but productivity fell because hours increased more.
Percentage change in output, hours, and labor productivity, selected service-providing industries, 2014
Industry
Percent change
Output
Hours
Labor productivity
Radio and television broadcasting
6.1
-3.1
9.5
Cable and other subscription programming
5.3
-2.8
8.3
Drycleaning and laundry services
6.3
-0.7
7.1
Software publishers
8.4
1.5
6.7
Travel arrangement and reservation services
1.9
-4.1
6.2
Wireless telecommunications carriers
9.7
5.3
4.2
General freight trucking, long-distance
6.7
2.8
3.8
Accounting and bookkeeping services
7.9
5.1
2.7
General freight trucking, local
9.5
6.9
2.5
Power generation and supply
1.9
0.4
1.5
Medical and diagnostic laboratories
1.8
0.4
1.3
Truck, trailer, and RV rental and leasing
8.8
7.7
1.0
Water, sewage and other systems
4.5
3.6
0.8
Warehousing and storage
2.0
1.3
0.6
Gambling industries
3.1
2.7
0.4
Wired telecommunications carriers
0.8
0.9
-0.1
Air transportation
2.7
2.9
-0.2
Automotive repair and maintenance
0.8
2.0
-1.2
Line-haul railroads
0.3
1.5
-1.2
Natural gas distribution
2.8
4.3
-1.5
Postal service
-2.4
-0.7
-1.6
Periodical publishers
-4.8
-2.1
-2.8
Newspaper publishers
-6.5
-2.4
-4.1
Couriers and messengers
-1.4
5.4
-6.5
Engineering services
-6.7
1.8
-8.3
In radio and television broadcasting, output rose 6.1 percent in 2014, while hours fell 3.1 percent, resulting in a 9.5-percent gain in productivity. Productivity increased 8.3 percent in cable and other subscription programming, as output rose 5.3 percent and hours fell 2.8 percent.
Productivity fell 8.3 percent in engineering services, as output fell 6.7 percent and hours rose 1.8 percent.
Productivity rose in industries above the diagonal line, where the change in output is greater than the change in hours. Productivity fell in the industries below the diagonal line. The farther an industry’s marker is from the diagonal line, the larger the change in productivity.
These data are from the Labor Productivity and Costs program. Data are preliminary and may be revised. To learn more, see "Productivity and Costs by Industry: Selected Service-Providing Industries, 2014" (HTML) (PDF).
United States Department of Labor
