Revised nonfarm business sector labor productivity 0 percent during fourth quarter of 2017

Nonfarm business sector labor productivity growth was revised to 0.0 percent from −0.1 percent during the fourth quarter of 2017. Output increased 3.2 percent and hours worked increased 3.3 percent, the same amounts previously published.

In the fourth quarter of 2017, hourly compensation increased by 2.4 percent, revised from a decline of 1.8 percent. Real hourly compensation declined 1.2 percent, revised from a decline of 1.8 percent. Unit labor costs increased 2.5 percent, revised from 2.0 percent.

These data are from the Labor Productivity and Costs program and are seasonally adjusted. For more information, see “Labor Productivity and Costs — Fourth Quarter and Annual Averages 2017, Revised” (HTML) (PDF). Measures released in the revised report are based on more recent source data than were available for the preliminary report. Labor productivity, or output per hour, is calculated by dividing an index of real output by an index of hours worked by all persons, including employees, proprietors, and unpaid family workers. More labor productivity charts can be found at Graphics for Economic News Releases: Productivity and Costs.