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Labor productivity rose at 1.1-percent annual rate from fourth quarter 2019 to first quarter 2023

May 17, 2023

Nonfarm business sector labor productivity decreased at an annual rate of 2.7 percent in the first quarter of 2023, as output increased 0.2 percent and hours worked increased 3.0 percent. From the fourth quarter of 2019 to the first quarter of 2023, labor productivity rose at a 1.1-percent annual rate. This is a historically low rate of productivity growth; the only time it was lower was in the six-quarter period from the first quarter of 1980 to the third quarter of 1981 (1.0 percent).

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Chart Data

Labor productivity (output per hour), and related measures, annual rates of change, 2nd quarter 1947–1st quarter 2023
Quarter	Labor productivity	Real hourly compensation	Unit labor costs	Output	Hourly compensation	Hours worked
Q2 1947	9.4	3.4	-0.1	9.5	9.4	0.1
Q3 1947	-11.7	3.1	27.4	-10.8	12.4	1.1
Q4 1947	18.0	-1.8	-6.9	22.6	9.8	3.9
Q1 1948	1.8	0.9	7.8	4.4	9.7	2.6
Q2 1948	-1.0	-1.0	6.6	-1.2	5.5	-0.2
Q3 1948	0.4	1.5	8.0	3.3	8.5	2.8
Q4 1948	1.7	7.8	2.2	-2.0	4.0	-3.6
Q1 1949	4.1	6.4	-1.7	-2.7	2.3	-6.6
Q2 1949	4.2	1.2	-3.3	-2.5	0.8	-6.4
Q3 1949	9.9	4.4	-8.1	5.2	0.9	-4.2
Q4 1949	-2.1	-0.2	0.9	-3.8	-1.2	-1.7
Q1 1950	14.4	12.1	-3.2	18.0	10.7	3.2
Q2 1950	5.0	5.7	3.8	15.8	9.0	10.3
Q3 1950	9.0	0.6	-0.7	23.4	8.2	13.2
Q4 1950	0.7	1.9	9.7	4.5	10.5	3.7
Q1 1951	0.5	-6.2	9.4	7.4	9.9	6.9
Q2 1951	-1.2	5.0	10.5	2.0	9.2	3.2
Q3 1951	9.2	4.7	-4.3	5.1	4.5	-3.8
Q4 1951	1.2	1.7	6.6	1.4	7.8	0.2
Q1 1952	2.1	2.7	2.2	4.7	4.4	2.6
Q2 1952	-0.8	1.9	3.8	-2.4	3.0	-1.7
Q3 1952	-1.9	2.3	7.2	0.9	5.1	2.9
Q4 1952	8.7	10.0	1.6	20.7	10.4	11.0
Q1 1953	3.5	5.9	1.1	7.9	4.7	4.2
Q2 1953	0.9	3.2	3.8	1.7	4.8	0.7
Q3 1953	1.7	2.4	2.6	-2.3	4.2	-3.9
Q4 1953	-1.4	3.2	5.4	-7.4	4.0	-6.1
Q1 1954	0.8	2.4	2.6	-4.5	3.4	-5.3
Q2 1954	2.8	1.1	-2.3	-0.2	0.5	-3.0
Q3 1954	7.4	4.3	-3.9	5.8	3.2	-1.5
Q4 1954	4.6	5.3	-0.6	9.9	4.0	5.1
Q1 1955	8.1	2.2	-4.9	15.2	2.8	6.6
Q2 1955	1.4	3.9	2.0	6.8	3.3	5.4
Q3 1955	1.5	7.0	5.7	5.8	7.4	4.3
Q4 1955	-1.4	2.4	5.2	3.4	3.6	4.9
Q1 1956	-4.7	6.3	11.6	-2.4	6.4	2.5
Q2 1956	2.0	5.1	5.8	2.9	7.9	0.9
Q3 1956	-0.1	2.0	6.4	-1.7	6.2	-1.6
Q4 1956	4.3	3.4	2.5	6.7	6.9	2.2
Q1 1957	4.7	2.4	1.1	5.1	5.9	0.4
Q2 1957	-1.6	0.6	5.7	-2.4	4.1	-0.9
Q3 1957	5.8	1.7	-0.3	3.7	5.4	-1.9
Q4 1957	1.4	3.5	4.1	-6.8	5.4	-8.0
Q1 1958	-5.4	-4.6	5.7	-13.6	0.0	-8.7
Q2 1958	7.9	0.9	-3.9	1.7	3.7	-5.7
Q3 1958	7.7	9.9	1.7	13.0	9.6	4.9
Q4 1958	7.0	1.2	-5.0	13.5	1.7	6.1
Q1 1959	0.5	3.3	3.5	8.5	4.0	8.0
Q2 1959	3.9	2.7	-0.5	12.0	3.5	7.8
Q3 1959	0.5	0.3	1.8	-0.6	2.3	-1.2
Q4 1959	-1.3	1.4	5.2	-1.2	3.9	0.1
Q1 1960	9.7	8.5	-0.7	12.4	8.9	2.5
Q2 1960	-6.1	0.2	9.3	-5.4	2.6	0.7
Q3 1960	2.4	2.1	0.0	0.1	2.4	-2.2
Q4 1960	-5.2	-0.9	7.2	-8.6	1.7	-3.6
Q1 1961	5.3	2.8	-1.6	2.9	3.6	-2.3
Q2 1961	11.0	5.9	-4.7	9.9	5.8	-0.9
Q3 1961	7.0	1.4	-3.7	9.5	3.0	2.4
Q4 1961	3.5	2.4	-0.5	8.8	3.0	5.2
Q1 1962	6.7	4.9	-0.2	8.3	6.5	1.5
Q2 1962	-1.6	1.2	4.4	3.2	2.7	4.8
Q3 1962	6.8	1.7	-3.7	6.0	2.9	-0.8
Q4 1962	3.0	2.7	0.7	0.5	3.6	-2.4
Q1 1963	1.2	2.7	2.8	3.6	4.1	2.4
Q2 1963	3.1	1.3	-1.0	5.7	2.0	2.6
Q3 1963	10.2	1.6	-5.5	11.4	4.2	1.1
Q4 1963	-0.3	3.5	4.9	2.9	4.6	3.2
Q1 1964	2.5	-2.9	-3.7	11.3	-1.3	8.6
Q2 1964	2.2	3.9	2.3	4.0	4.6	1.8
Q3 1964	4.2	4.4	1.1	6.9	5.4	2.6
Q4 1964	-3.8	1.1	7.0	0.0	3.0	4.0
Q1 1965	5.9	0.4	-4.0	12.6	1.7	6.3
Q2 1965	1.9	0.1	0.8	6.0	2.7	4.0
Q3 1965	8.4	3.1	-3.8	9.5	4.3	1.0
Q4 1965	7.1	3.9	-1.0	11.3	6.1	3.9
Q1 1966	5.6	3.2	1.5	11.8	7.1	5.8
Q2 1966	-2.7	2.8	9.5	1.1	6.5	4.0
Q3 1966	1.3	2.3	4.5	3.2	5.9	1.9
Q4 1966	2.5	2.1	2.9	1.5	5.5	-1.0
Q1 1967	3.2	4.4	2.2	2.7	5.5	-0.4
Q2 1967	1.5	4.1	5.1	-0.9	6.6	-2.4
Q3 1967	2.1	1.4	3.4	3.4	5.5	1.3
Q4 1967	1.2	1.1	4.4	3.0	5.6	1.8
Q1 1968	9.2	6.9	1.8	10.0	11.1	0.7
Q2 1968	3.8	2.6	2.8	7.8	6.7	3.9
Q3 1968	0.2	1.1	6.5	3.0	6.7	2.9
Q4 1968	-1.0	3.0	9.2	1.5	8.2	2.5
Q1 1969	3.2	0.6	2.3	7.1	5.6	3.8
Q2 1969	-3.2	0.2	10.2	0.4	6.6	3.8
Q3 1969	0.4	1.6	6.8	2.4	7.3	2.0
Q4 1969	-2.0	1.5	10.1	-3.1	7.9	-1.1
Q1 1970	1.2	0.8	6.1	-0.3	7.4	-1.6
Q2 1970	6.0	0.7	0.5	0.6	6.5	-5.1
Q3 1970	6.4	2.3	0.2	4.4	6.6	-1.9
Q4 1970	-3.6	-1.9	7.9	-6.5	4.0	-3.0
Q1 1971	12.4	5.0	-3.4	14.5	8.5	1.9
Q2 1971	1.1	2.2	4.8	2.5	6.0	1.3
Q3 1971	3.9	1.5	1.7	3.9	5.6	0.0
Q4 1971	-3.4	-0.2	6.4	0.8	2.8	4.3
Q1 1972	6.4	8.0	4.9	11.3	11.6	4.6
Q2 1972	8.1	2.1	-3.1	11.3	4.8	2.9
Q3 1972	2.3	2.1	3.0	4.7	5.4	2.3
Q4 1972	3.4	3.4	4.2	7.9	7.7	4.3
Q1 1973	9.4	4.3	1.5	16.1	11.0	6.1
Q2 1973	0.2	-2.7	5.5	4.4	5.7	4.2
Q3 1973	-3.7	-1.0	11.2	-1.1	7.1	2.7
Q4 1973	-2.5	-2.0	11.1	-0.5	8.3	2.0
Q1 1974	-1.0	-2.7	10.4	-2.6	9.4	-1.6
Q2 1974	-1.2	-0.3	12.2	-0.1	10.8	1.1
Q3 1974	-4.0	0.6	17.1	-5.3	12.4	-1.3
Q4 1974	3.6	-1.3	7.5	-3.0	11.4	-6.4
Q1 1975	3.0	3.3	9.2	-9.2	12.5	-11.8
Q2 1975	6.5	3.7	2.1	2.7	8.7	-3.6
Q3 1975	5.0	-0.9	2.2	8.9	7.3	3.7
Q4 1975	0.4	-0.8	6.3	7.5	6.7	7.0
Q1 1976	6.1	3.1	1.8	13.2	7.9	6.7
Q2 1976	3.7	3.9	3.8	4.0	7.7	0.2
Q3 1976	1.0	2.0	7.6	2.6	8.7	1.6
Q4 1976	1.2	2.7	7.5	3.4	8.8	2.2
Q1 1977	2.6	0.2	5.1	7.0	7.8	4.3
Q2 1977	1.6	1.2	6.7	9.6	8.4	7.8
Q3 1977	4.3	2.2	3.6	8.8	8.0	4.4
Q4 1977	-5.0	1.0	12.8	-1.2	7.1	4.0
Q1 1978	0.2	4.4	10.8	2.1	11.0	1.9
Q2 1978	8.1	-1.8	-1.0	21.3	7.0	12.2
Q3 1978	0.2	0.4	7.6	3.7	7.8	3.4
Q4 1978	2.6	2.1	7.5	7.7	10.3	4.9
Q1 1979	-3.6	1.1	14.8	-0.8	10.7	2.9
Q2 1979	-0.7	-1.6	10.3	0.5	9.5	1.3
Q3 1979	-0.5	-1.7	9.7	3.2	9.2	3.7
Q4 1979	-0.5	0.1	11.0	0.4	10.5	0.9
Q1 1980	1.9	-1.4	9.6	0.9	11.7	-1.0
Q2 1980	-4.1	1.0	16.0	-10.9	11.2	-7.0
Q3 1980	1.6	0.5	8.8	-0.2	10.5	-1.8
Q4 1980	4.1	1.2	6.7	9.8	11.1	5.5
Q1 1981	6.3	-1.1	3.9	8.8	10.4	2.3
Q2 1981	-5.1	-0.6	12.8	-4.8	7.1	0.3
Q3 1981	3.8	0.8	5.2	3.6	9.2	-0.2
Q4 1981	-4.1	-0.4	11.3	-5.8	6.7	-1.7
Q1 1982	-1.9	5.7	13.1	-8.4	10.9	-6.6
Q2 1982	0.1	-1.1	3.1	1.9	3.1	1.9
Q3 1982	0.7	-0.7	5.6	-2.1	6.4	-2.8
Q4 1982	3.4	1.5	2.5	-0.4	6.0	-3.7
Q1 1983	5.3	1.8	-1.1	7.9	4.1	2.5
Q2 1983	9.0	-1.0	-4.6	14.1	3.9	4.7
Q3 1983	1.9	-1.6	0.3	10.2	2.2	8.2
Q4 1983	2.2	0.9	2.4	10.1	4.7	7.7
Q1 1984	1.5	-0.9	3.1	9.5	4.7	7.9
Q2 1984	2.4	0.6	1.8	7.8	4.3	5.3
Q3 1984	1.8	2.7	4.1	3.6	6.0	1.7
Q4 1984	0.4	-0.1	2.8	3.1	3.2	2.6
Q1 1985	1.2	1.6	3.9	4.5	5.2	3.2
Q2 1985	1.2	0.3	2.6	4.0	3.9	2.8
Q3 1985	5.2	3.4	0.8	6.4	6.0	1.1
Q4 1985	1.6	3.8	6.1	3.7	7.8	2.0
Q1 1986	4.8	3.8	0.9	4.2	5.8	-0.6
Q2 1986	3.2	6.9	1.5	2.1	4.7	-1.1
Q3 1986	1.7	2.8	3.3	3.8	5.1	2.0
Q4 1986	-0.8	2.7	6.3	2.2	5.5	3.0
Q1 1987	-1.8	-2.7	3.7	3.2	1.8	5.1
Q2 1987	2.7	-1.3	0.2	5.1	2.9	2.3
Q3 1987	0.1	0.2	4.1	2.9	4.2	2.8
Q4 1987	4.0	1.5	0.8	8.4	4.8	4.2
Q1 1988	1.4	4.5	5.7	1.8	7.2	0.4
Q2 1988	1.0	0.6	3.8	6.9	4.9	5.7
Q3 1988	1.0	0.3	4.0	2.1	5.0	1.1
Q4 1988	0.9	-0.7	2.1	5.6	3.0	4.6
Q1 1989	0.2	-2.9	0.9	4.3	1.1	4.1
Q2 1989	1.2	-4.3	0.4	2.8	1.6	1.6
Q3 1989	1.9	0.7	1.7	2.9	3.6	0.9
Q4 1989	0.0	2.1	5.8	0.1	5.9	0.0
Q1 1990	3.8	1.4	4.0	5.0	7.9	1.2
Q2 1990	2.8	4.2	5.1	1.0	8.0	-1.7
Q3 1990	1.3	-1.2	4.1	-0.8	5.4	-2.0
Q4 1990	-4.1	-3.1	7.4	-5.7	3.1	-1.7
Q1 1991	1.2	0.2	1.1	-2.7	2.4	-3.9
Q2 1991	6.7	5.9	1.1	4.0	7.9	-2.5
Q3 1991	3.5	2.4	1.4	3.0	4.9	-0.5
Q4 1991	1.9	2.4	3.5	1.2	5.4	-0.7
Q1 1992	8.2	8.5	2.5	5.6	10.8	-2.3
Q2 1992	3.4	1.0	0.3	5.1	3.8	1.6
Q3 1992	3.6	2.1	1.0	4.3	4.6	0.7
Q4 1992	2.4	-0.9	-0.2	5.1	2.2	2.6
Q1 1993	-3.4	-4.9	0.5	0.1	-2.9	3.6
Q2 1993	-2.3	0.1	5.4	2.2	3.0	4.6
Q3 1993	1.7	-1.4	-1.6	4.2	0.1	2.4
Q4 1993	1.6	0.2	1.4	5.5	2.9	3.9
Q1 1994	1.1	-3.4	-3.4	3.7	-2.3	2.5
Q2 1994	0.4	1.2	3.0	7.0	3.4	6.6
Q3 1994	-2.2	-3.1	2.2	2.4	-0.1	4.8
Q4 1994	4.3	1.2	-1.1	6.0	3.2	1.7
Q1 1995	0.3	0.0	2.1	2.2	2.4	1.9
Q2 1995	1.9	0.3	1.4	1.3	3.3	-0.6
Q3 1995	0.0	0.4	2.2	4.6	2.2	4.7
Q4 1995	2.2	1.2	1.0	3.3	3.3	1.0
Q1 1996	2.5	1.3	1.9	3.3	4.4	0.8
Q2 1996	3.9	0.3	-0.1	7.9	3.8	3.8
Q3 1996	1.5	1.0	1.6	4.9	3.1	3.4
Q4 1996	0.4	-0.9	2.0	5.0	2.3	4.6
Q1 1997	-0.8	2.4	5.5	2.6	4.7	3.4
Q2 1997	6.0	2.7	-2.2	8.1	3.7	1.9
Q3 1997	3.3	2.3	0.7	5.8	4.1	2.4
Q4 1997	2.0	5.3	5.3	3.9	7.4	1.9
Q1 1998	3.7	6.2	3.2	6.3	6.9	2.5
Q2 1998	2.2	4.0	2.9	4.3	5.2	2.1
Q3 1998	5.4	4.8	1.1	6.0	6.6	0.6
Q4 1998	3.1	0.6	-0.8	8.3	2.3	5.0
Q1 1999	5.6	5.7	1.6	5.0	7.3	-0.6
Q2 1999	1.4	-1.3	0.3	3.6	1.7	2.2
Q3 1999	3.9	0.4	-0.3	6.6	3.5	2.6
Q4 1999	5.9	5.1	2.2	7.7	8.3	1.7
Q1 2000	-1.4	10.4	16.5	0.4	14.9	1.8
Q2 2000	7.8	-2.1	-6.4	9.1	1.0	1.2
Q3 2000	-0.1	4.2	8.2	-0.3	8.1	-0.2
Q4 2000	4.0	-0.7	-1.7	2.6	2.2	-1.4
Q1 2001	-2.0	5.2	11.6	-2.3	9.3	-0.2
Q2 2001	7.1	-1.3	-5.1	3.1	1.6	-3.8
Q3 2001	2.4	-0.5	-1.7	-2.6	0.6	-4.9
Q4 2001	5.1	4.1	-1.3	0.5	3.7	-4.4
Q1 2002	8.5	0.5	-6.2	4.9	1.8	-3.3
Q2 2002	0.8	0.2	2.7	1.8	3.5	1.0
Q3 2002	3.0	-0.1	-0.9	1.5	2.1	-1.5
Q4 2002	-0.4	-1.3	1.4	0.1	1.0	0.5
Q1 2003	3.9	-1.6	-1.4	1.8	2.5	-2.1
Q2 2003	5.4	7.7	1.6	4.2	7.1	-1.2
Q3 2003	9.1	3.1	-2.7	9.7	6.1	0.6
Q4 2003	3.8	4.1	1.9	5.8	5.8	1.9
Q1 2004	-1.0	-4.1	0.3	0.7	-0.8	1.7
Q2 2004	4.1	4.7	3.7	4.5	7.9	0.3
Q3 2004	1.7	4.7	5.6	4.3	7.4	2.5
Q4 2004	2.0	-2.6	-0.3	4.2	1.7	2.1
Q1 2005	4.7	0.8	-1.8	5.5	2.8	0.8
Q2 2005	-0.8	-0.4	3.2	1.5	2.4	2.4
Q3 2005	2.5	-1.0	2.6	3.8	5.1	1.3
Q4 2005	0.4	-1.2	2.1	2.8	2.5	2.4
Q1 2006	3.0	6.0	5.0	7.2	8.2	4.0
Q2 2006	-0.7	-3.3	1.0	0.6	0.3	1.3
Q3 2006	-0.9	-2.7	1.9	0.7	1.0	1.7
Q4 2006	2.8	8.5	3.8	4.5	6.7	1.7
Q1 2007	0.6	5.3	8.9	1.2	9.5	0.6
Q2 2007	1.1	-4.8	-1.6	3.2	-0.5	2.0
Q3 2007	4.2	-0.7	-2.2	2.6	1.9	-1.5
Q4 2007	3.3	-0.1	1.5	1.9	4.8	-1.4
Q1 2008	-2.5	-0.4	6.7	-3.7	4.0	-1.3
Q2 2008	4.4	-4.5	-3.7	2.1	0.5	-2.1
Q3 2008	1.1	-2.1	2.9	-3.4	4.1	-4.5
Q4 2008	-1.1	15.7	6.7	-11.7	5.5	-10.6
Q1 2009	3.7	-7.6	-13.3	-6.4	-10.1	-9.8
Q2 2009	9.1	8.5	1.6	-0.8	10.8	-9.0
Q3 2009	6.0	-0.7	-3.1	1.4	2.8	-4.3
Q4 2009	5.9	-0.8	-3.4	5.4	2.3	-0.5
Q1 2010	1.0	-4.4	-4.7	2.2	-3.7	1.2
Q2 2010	1.0	4.7	3.5	4.5	4.5	3.4
Q3 2010	2.9	1.2	-0.5	4.6	2.4	1.6
Q4 2010	1.1	-1.7	0.5	3.1	1.5	2.0
Q1 2011	-2.8	3.0	10.6	-2.1	7.5	0.7
Q2 2011	-0.1	-7.7	-3.3	4.2	-3.4	4.3
Q3 2011	-1.0	0.6	4.3	0.2	3.2	1.3
Q4 2011	2.3	-7.4	-7.9	5.9	-5.7	3.5
Q1 2012	1.6	7.2	8.0	5.1	9.7	3.4
Q2 2012	1.9	1.3	0.3	2.6	2.2	0.7
Q3 2012	-0.9	-1.9	0.8	1.2	-0.1	2.1
Q4 2012	-1.5	7.8	12.5	0.8	10.8	2.3
Q1 2013	2.0	-7.3	-7.7	3.8	-5.8	1.7
Q2 2013	-1.4	3.3	4.3	0.2	2.9	1.7
Q3 2013	2.1	-3.0	-2.9	4.2	-0.9	2.1
Q4 2013	3.1	1.5	0.0	4.2	3.1	1.1
Q1 2014	-4.1	5.2	12.5	-2.1	7.9	2.0
Q2 2014	3.5	-4.2	-5.4	6.8	-2.1	3.2
Q3 2014	3.3	1.3	-0.9	6.4	2.4	3.0
Q4 2014	-2.1	5.3	6.5	2.3	4.3	4.6
Q1 2015	2.8	7.4	1.9	4.0	4.8	1.1
Q2 2015	1.4	0.8	2.1	3.0	3.6	1.5
Q3 2015	1.2	1.2	1.6	1.3	2.8	0.1
Q4 2015	-2.2	-0.8	1.4	0.4	-0.8	2.6
Q1 2016	1.1	0.3	-1.0	2.7	0.1	1.6
Q2 2016	0.0	-1.8	1.4	1.2	1.4	1.2
Q3 2016	1.8	0.2	0.1	2.8	1.9	1.0
Q4 2016	2.4	1.9	2.0	2.8	4.5	0.4
Q1 2017	0.2	1.2	3.9	1.7	4.1	1.5
Q2 2017	-0.4	2.0	2.8	2.5	2.4	2.8
Q3 2017	4.0	3.3	1.2	4.4	5.3	0.4
Q4 2017	1.8	2.1	3.6	5.1	5.4	3.2
Q1 2018	1.1	-0.7	1.6	3.2	2.7	2.1
Q2 2018	1.6	-0.1	0.4	3.1	2.0	1.5
Q3 2018	1.5	2.2	2.5	3.6	4.0	2.1
Q4 2018	-0.7	-0.3	2.0	0.8	1.3	1.4
Q1 2019	3.4	8.6	6.1	3.0	9.7	-0.3
Q2 2019	2.5	-2.5	-2.1	2.9	0.4	0.3
Q3 2019	2.3	-1.1	-1.9	4.3	0.4	2.0
Q4 2019	2.3	3.6	4.1	1.8	6.5	-0.6
Q1 2020	-0.5	8.8	10.8	-6.7	10.3	-6.3
Q2 2020	17.3	30.3	7.2	-35.0	25.7	-44.6
Q3 2020	6.5	-10.6	-12.1	47.2	-6.4	38.2
Q4 2020	-3.5	7.1	14.0	5.3	10.0	9.2
Q1 2021	3.4	-5.0	-4.2	8.5	-0.9	4.9
Q2 2021	2.3	-1.0	4.4	8.9	6.9	6.4
Q3 2021	-3.0	-0.7	9.1	2.7	5.9	5.9
Q4 2021	3.0	-1.8	3.7	9.1	6.8	5.9
Q1 2022	-6.0	-6.8	8.5	-2.5	2.0	3.8
Q2 2022	-3.7	-6.5	6.6	-1.2	2.7	2.6
Q3 2022	1.2	2.5	6.9	3.6	8.2	2.4
Q4 2022	1.6	0.7	3.3	2.9	4.9	1.3
Q1 2023	-2.7	-0.3	6.3	0.2	3.4	3.0

In the first quarter of 2023, unit labor costs increased at an annual rate of 6.3 percent, reflecting the 2.7-percent decrease in productivity and a 3.4-percent increase in hourly compensation.

These data are from the Productivity program, are seasonally adjusted, and are subject to revision. See "Productivity and Costs — First Quarter 2023 (Preliminary)" to learn more. Also see charts related to the latest "Productivity and Costs" news release. Labor productivity, or output per hour, is calculated by dividing an index of inflation-adjusted output by an index of hours worked for all persons, including employees, proprietors, and unpaid family workers. Unit labor costs are calculated as the ratio of hourly compensation to labor productivity. Increases in hourly compensation tend to increase unit labor costs and increases in productivity tend to reduce them.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Labor productivity rose at 1.1-percent annual rate from fourth quarter 2019 to first quarter 2023 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2023/labor-productivity-rose-at-1.1-percent-annual-rate-from-fourth-quarter-2019-to-first-quarter-2023.htm (visited March 09, 2026).

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