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Productivity

Wholesale and Retail Trade Industries Labor Productivity

On May 29, 2025, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) updated measures for detailed industries in Productivity and Costs by Industry: Wholesale Trade and Retail Trade Industries - 2024. In 2024, the wholesale trade sector accounted for 4.7 percent of nonfarm business sector employment (6.3 million jobs). The retail trade sector accounted for 12.4 percent of nonfarm business sector employment (16.3 million jobs). This page presents data highlights from the news release. 

The charts below feature trends of productivity and related series in selected time periods for three wholesale trade industries (grocery and related products, motor vehicles and parts, and appliances and electric goods) and three retail trade industries (automobile dealers, electronic shopping and mail-order houses, and grocery stores). While both wholesalers and retailers sell products, the difference is their customers. Wholesalers sell products to retailers and other establishments while retailers sell directly to consumers. 

Productivity growth for the three wholesale industries was strongest during the 1987-2007 period.  Two of the three industries, grocery and related products and motor vehicles and parts, had the largest increase in unit labor costs in the 2019-2024 period. While hourly compensation grew in all three industries between 2019 and 2024, unit labor costs declined in appliances and electric goods. For retail, hourly compensation grew the most in all three industries from 2019 to 2024. Unit labor costs increased in two of the three industries but declined in electronic shopping and mail-order houses due to higher productivity growth in the same period. Take a closer look below and explore additional measures and industries with our interactive charts.  

 

  • Grocery & related products
  • Motor vehicles & parts
  • Appliances & electric goods
  • Automobile dealers
  • Electronic shopping & mail-order houses
  • Grocery stores
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

BLS creates productivity measures for the nonfarm business sector, U.S. states, and individual industries, such as those in the wholesale and retail trade sectors. Labor productivity describes the relationship between output and the hours worked involved in its production. Unit labor costs (ULC) represent the cost of labor required to produce one unit of output. ULC also describes the relationship between compensation per hour worked (hourly compensation) and output per hour (labor productivity).

 

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Notes

The annual percent change is the change in a series from one year to the next as a percent of the series-value in the previous year. Over a period of more than one year, the annual percent change is the compound annual growth rate in an index series, or an annualized average growth rate. Because the change of an index series varies from year to year, the annual percent change for a long time period reflects the constant rate that can be applied to each year in a period, from the start to the end, that would give the same total result. It is calculated as (Ending Value/Starting Value)^(1/Number of Years)–1.

Last Modified Date: June 25, 2025