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Productivity and Costs: Selected Service-Providing and Mining Industries News Release
For release 10:00 a.m. (EDT) Wednesday, May 21, 2014 USDL-14-0872
Technical Information: (202) 691-5618 • dipsweb@bls.gov • www.bls.gov/lpc
Media Contact: (202) 691-5902 • PressOffice@bls.gov
PRODUCTIVITY AND COSTS BY INDUSTRY:
SELECTED SERVICE-PROVIDING AND MINING INDUSTRIES, 2012
Labor productivity -- defined as output per hour -- rose in 48 percent of the 58 service-providing and
mining industries studied in 2012, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. This was down
from 60 percent in 2011. Unit labor costs, which reflect the total labor costs required to produce a unit
of output, declined in 17 percent of the industries in 2012, compared to 31 percent in 2011.
Output rose in more industries in 2012 than in any year since 2006, while hours rose in more industries
than in any year since 2005. (See table 1.) Output increased in 39 of the 58 service-providing and mining
industries studied, while hours rose in 34 industries. The percentage of industries where output increased
but hours rose more than output was the highest since the series began in 1987.
Labor compensation rose in 84 percent of the industries studied. Unit labor costs fell in 8 of 53 service-
providing industries in 2012, down from 17 industries in 2011, and in 2 of the 5 mining industries. The
industries with declines in unit labor costs all posted increases in productivity, which offset movements
in hourly compensation.
The latest productivity measures for industries presented here and for those in other sectors are available
on the BLS Labor Productivity and Costs website at www.bls.gov/lpc/iprprodydata.htm.
*******************************************************************************************************
* Industry Productivity Hours Series Changes *
* *
* Beginning with this news release, labor hours for service-providing and mining industries represent *
* hours worked. See Technical Note for more information about how hours worked are derived. *
*******************************************************************************************************
Service-Providing Industries: Output per hour increased in 2012 in 26 of the 53 industries studied. In
most of these industries, productivity rose as output growth was accompanied by declines or more
modest increases in hours. Three industries posted double-digit productivity gains as a result: radio
broadcasting; wireless telecommunications carriers; and photofinishing.
In a few industries, productivity rose despite declining output, as hours were reduced even more than
output: natural gas distribution; newspaper publishers; video tape and disc rental; photography studios,
portrait; and funeral homes and funeral services.
Productivity and cost measures are published in this release for the first time for four industries: water,
sewage and other systems (NAICS 2213); offices of certified public accountants (NAICS 541211); golf
courses and country clubs (NAICS 71391); and fitness and recreational sports centers (NAICS 71394).
Productivity rose in 2012 in offices of certified public accountants and in golf courses and country clubs,
but fell in water, sewage and other systems and in fitness and recreational sports centers.
Mining Industries: Productivity rose in the overall mining sector in 2012, as output increased slightly
more than hours. Output per hour also increased in two of the five detailed mining industries studied.
Productivity rose sharply in support activities for mining, and also increased in nonmetallic mineral
mining and quarrying. In both industries the gains in productivity offset increases in hourly
compensation, reducing unit labor costs.
Largest Industries: Among the 20 largest service-providing and mining industries studied, output rose
in all eight of the industries with productivity increases, led by support activities for mining, where
strong output growth outpaced the increase in hours. Productivity fell the most in janitorial services,
where modest output growth was met with a greater increase in hours. Unit labor costs increased in all
except two of the industries: support activities for mining and wired telecommunications carriers.
Long-Term Trends: More industries posted productivity growth over the longer term than in 2012.
Between 1987 and 2012 labor productivity increased in 79 percent of the detailed service-providing and
mining industries studied, while between 2007 and 2012 it increased in 60 percent of the industries. In
contrast, in 2012 productivity rose in less than half of the industries and productivity performance was
more widely distributed: 26 percent of industries posted productivity declines of 4.0 percent or greater,
while 24 percent posted productivity gains of 4.1 percent or more.
Revisions: The measures in this news release incorporate data from the 2012 Service Annual Survey
published by the Census Bureau. The hours measures incorporate the annual benchmark revision of the
BLS Current Employment Statistics (CES) survey published in February 2014. For the first time, labor
hours in this news release represent hours at work. Data on hours paid from the CES were adjusted using
industry hours-worked to hours-paid ratios derived from National Compensation Survey (NCS) data. All
of the measures for 2012 in this release are preliminary and subject to revision.
Other: While the rates of change reported in this news release are rounded to one decimal place, all
industry productivity percent changes are calculated using index numbers rounded to three decimal
places. Year-to-year movements in industry productivity may be erratic, particularly in smaller
industries. The annual measures based on sample data may differ from measures generated by a census
of establishments in the industry. Annual changes in an industry’s output and use of labor may reflect
cyclical changes in the economy as well as long-term trends. As a result, long-term productivity trends
tend to be more reliable indicators of industry performance than year-to-year changes. The industries
included in this release are classified according to the 2007 NAICS.
More detailed data for industries covered in this release and for additional industries are available on the
BLS Labor Productivity and Costs website at www.bls.gov/lpc. Data include productivity and related
indexes; rates of change; and levels of industry employment, hours, nominal value of production, and
labor compensation. Additional information can be obtained by calling the Division of Industry
Productivity Studies (202-691-5618) or by sending a request by e-mail to dipsweb@bls.gov.
Information in this report will be made available to sensory-impaired individuals upon request. Voice
phone: 202-691-5618; TDD message referral phone number: 1-800-877-8339.
Customers can subscribe to the industry productivity program’s news releases on the BLS website at
https://subscriptions.bls.gov/accounts/USDOLBLS/subscriber/new.
Technical Note
Labor Productivity: The industry labor productivity measures describe the relationship between
industry output and the labor time involved in its production. They show the changes from period to
period in the amount of goods and services produced per hour. Although the labor productivity measures
relate output to hours of all persons in an industry, they do not measure the specific contribution of labor
or any other factor of production. Rather, they reflect the joint effects of many influences, including
changes in technology; capital investment; utilization of capacity, energy, and materials; the use of
purchased services inputs, including contract employment services; the organization of production;
managerial skill; and the characteristics and effort of the workforce.
Output: Industry output is measured as an annual-weighted index of the changes in the various products
or services (in real terms) provided for sale outside the industry. Real industry output is usually derived
by deflating nominal sales or values of production using BLS price indexes, but for some industries it is
measured by physical quantities of output.
Industry output measures are constructed primarily using data from the economic censuses and annual
surveys of the U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Department of Commerce, together with information on price
changes primarily from BLS. Other data sources include the Energy Information Administration, U.S.
Department of Energy; the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, U.S. Department of Transportation; the
U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Department of the Interior; the U.S. Postal Service; the Postal Rate
Commission; and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
Labor Hours: Labor hours reflect annual hours worked by all employed persons in an industry. Data on
industry employment and hours come primarily from the BLS Current Employment Statistics (CES)
survey and Current Population Survey (CPS). CES data on the number of total and nonsupervisory
worker jobs held by wage and salary workers in nonfarm establishments are supplemented with CPS
self-employed and unpaid family worker data to estimate industry employment. Hours worked estimates
are derived using CES and CPS employment, CES data on average weekly hours paid of nonsupervisory
workers, CPS data on hours of supervisory, self-employed, and unpaid family workers, and ratios of
hours-worked to hours-paid based on data from the National Compensation Survey (NCS). For some
industries, employment and hours data are supplemented or further disaggregated using data from the
BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW), the Census Bureau, or other sources. Other
sources of employment and hours data for some service industries include the Association of American
Railroads, the U.S. Department of Transportation, and the U.S. Postal Service. Hours worked are
estimated separately for different types of workers and then are directly aggregated; no adjustments for
labor composition are made.
Unit Labor Costs: Unit labor costs represent the cost of labor required to produce one unit of output.
The unit labor cost indexes are computed by dividing an index of nominal labor compensation by an
index of real industry output. Unit labor costs also describe the relationship between compensation per
hour and real output per hour (labor productivity). Increases in hourly compensation increase unit labor
costs; increases in labor productivity offset compensation increases and lower unit labor costs.
Labor Compensation: Labor compensation, defined as payroll plus supplemental payments, is a
measure of the cost to the employer of securing the services of labor. Payroll includes salaries, wages,
commissions, dismissal pay, bonuses, vacation and sick leave pay, and compensation in kind.
Supplemental payments include both legally required expenditures and payments for voluntary
programs. The legally required portion consists primarily of Federal old age and survivors’ insurance,
unemployment compensation, and workers’ compensation. Payments for voluntary programs include all
programs not specifically required by legislation, such as the employer portion of private health
insurance and pension plans. Industry compensation measures are constructed primarily using data from
the BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW), and the economic censuses and annual
surveys of the Census Bureau, U.S. Department of Commerce.
Table 1. Percent change in labor productivity, unit labor costs, and related data, 2011-2012
Industry
NAICS code
2012 Employment (thousands)
Percent change, 2011-2012
Labor productivity
Output
Hours
Labor compensation
Unit labor costs
Mining Industries
Mining
21
816.6
0.6
8.4
7.7
11.1
2.5
Oil and gas extraction
211
191.1
-5.8
12.2
19.1
14.2
1.7
Oil and gas extraction
2111
191.1
-5.8
12.2
19.1
14.2
1.7
Mining, except oil and gas
212
221.1
0.4
-2.2
-2.6
2.2
4.5
Coal mining
2121
84.9
-0.3
-7.5
-7.2
-2.1
5.9
Metal ore mining
2122
46.1
-7.2
0.6
8.4
11.0
10.4
Nonmetallic mineral mining and quarrying
2123
90.1
5.9
3.0
-2.8
2.0
-0.9
Support activities for mining
213
404.4
14.3
24.6
9.1
13.3
-9.1
Support activities for mining
2131
404.4
14.3
24.6
9.1
13.3
-9.1
Utilities
Power generation and supply
2211
396.2
-1.5
-4.1
-2.6
-1.9
2.3
Natural gas distribution
2212
109.0
1.5
-0.7
-2.1
1.3
1.9
Water, sewage and other systems
2213
47.6
-4.0
-4.0
0.0
-1.0
3.2
Transportation and Warehousing
Air transportation
481
429.7
6.0
0.6
-5.0
4.9
4.3
Line-haul railroads
482111
184.3
1.1
1.6
0.5
2.5
0.9
Truck transportation
484
1,555.2
-1.3
3.3
4.7
7.8
4.3
General freight trucking
4841
1,114.1
-2.1
1.7
3.9
7.0
5.2
General freight trucking, local
48411
290.1
0.2
4.7
4.5
6.6
1.8
General freight trucking, long-distance
48412
824.0
-2.6
1.0
3.7
7.0
6.0
Used household and office goods moving
48421
90.5
-9.5
2.7
13.5
6.2
3.4
Postal service
491
611.2
-4.1
-6.4
-2.4
-0.7
6.1
Postal service
4911
611.2
-4.1
-6.4
-2.4
-0.7
6.1
Couriers and messengers
492
561.7
-1.6
-1.0
0.6
14.3
15.4
Warehousing and storage
493
690.4
2.2
7.0
4.7
8.0
0.9
Warehousing and storage
4931
690.4
2.2
7.0
4.7
8.0
0.9
General warehousing and storage
49311
583.1
2.1
8.2
5.9
8.5
0.3
Refrigerated warehousing and storage
49312
52.2
2.3
1.1
-1.2
6.0
4.9
Information
Publishing
511
782.1
0.6
0.8
0.2
4.9
4.1
Newspaper, book, and directory publishers
5111
493.5
0.5
-2.9
-3.4
0.9
3.9
Newspaper publishers
51111
241.6
2.7
-2.1
-4.7
-3.4
-1.4
Periodical publishers
51112
121.6
2.3
0.4
-1.8
5.9
5.4
Book publishers
51113
76.3
-2.3
-6.1
-3.8
6.5
13.3
Software publishers
5112
288.6
-2.6
3.5
6.3
8.2
4.5
Motion picture and video exhibition
51213
128.3
6.5
6.4
-0.2
7.2
0.8
Broadcasting, except Internet
515
289.5
5.1
3.0
-2.0
6.3
3.2
Radio and television broadcasting
5151
215.3
6.8
4.2
-2.5
8.6
4.2
Radio broadcasting
51511
93.0
13.0
8.0
-4.4
10.5
2.3
Cable and other subscription programming
5152
74.2
2.9
2.1
-0.8
1.9
-0.2
Wired telecommunications carriers
5171
594.0
3.6
2.7
-0.8
-0.6
-3.2
Wireless telecommunications carriers
5172
159.9
19.6
8.1
-9.6
11.0
2.7
Finance and Insurance
Commercial banking
52211
1,320.6
2.7
3.5
0.8
5.4
1.8
Real Estate and Rental and Leasing
Passenger car rental
532111
107.2
-1.9
7.1
9.1
8.0
0.8
Truck, trailer and RV rental and leasing
53212
59.6
-6.7
1.5
8.8
7.4
5.8
Video tape and disc rental
53223
29.8
22.5
-12.5
-28.6
-21.8
-10.6
Professional and Technical Services
Offices of certified public accountants
541211
429.7
3.1
7.9
4.7
8.4
0.5
Tax preparation services
541213
143.4
-2.8
-3.8
-1.0
9.4
13.6
Architectural services
54131
174.9
0.9
0.1
-0.9
3.8
3.7
Engineering services
54133
930.6
-4.0
-2.6
1.5
5.4
8.2
Advertising agencies
54181
199.1
5.9
10.7
4.6
7.6
-2.8
Photography studios, portrait
541921
69.3
4.7
-1.0
-5.4
-2.3
-1.3
Administrative and Waste Services
Employment placement agencies
561311
241.2
8.1
8.3
0.2
12.9
4.2
Travel arrangement and reservation services
5615
221.2
-5.1
3.2
8.7
8.1
4.7
Travel agencies
56151
101.5
-1.0
0.7
1.7
9.9
9.1
Janitorial services
56172
1,305.3
-4.8
0.8
5.9
6.9
6.0
Health Care and Social Assistance
Medical and diagnostic laboratories
6215
254.2
-5.6
-1.0
4.9
6.7
7.8
Medical laboratories
621511
173.6
-5.0
-0.3
4.9
7.2
7.6
Diagnostic imaging centers
621512
80.6
-6.5
-2.1
4.8
6.1
8.4
Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation
Amusement and theme parks
71311
159.6
-11.6
-1.6
11.3
14.9
16.8
Golf courses and country clubs
71391
362.5
2.7
3.8
1.1
6.3
2.4
Fitness and recreational sports centers
71394
537.6
-1.2
3.4
4.6
7.4
3.9
Bowling centers
71395
67.8
-5.6
-2.9
2.8
4.4
7.6
Accommodation and Food Services
Accommodation and food services
72
12,079.6
-1.6
2.6
4.3
6.3
3.5
Accommodation
721
1,854.1
-0.8
0.6
1.4
4.5
3.9
Traveler accommodation
7211
1,776.8
-0.8
0.4
1.2
4.4
4.0
Hotels and motels, except casino hotels
72111
1,482.4
-0.7
0.9
1.6
5.2
4.3
Food services and drinking places
722
10,225.5
-1.5
3.4
5.0
6.8
3.4
Full-service restaurants
7221
4,805.7
-1.5
3.7
5.2
7.4
3.6
Limited-service eating places
7222
4,328.0
-2.2
3.1
5.3
6.3
3.2
Special food services
7223
720.2
-0.5
4.1
4.7
5.5
1.3
Drinking places, alcoholic beverages
7224
371.6
4.5
1.2
-3.1
8.1
6.8
Other Services
Automotive repair and maintenance
8111
1,073.6
-3.9
1.3
5.3
9.9
8.5
Reupholstery and furniture repair
81142
20.9
-6.5
-1.6
5.2
8.4
10.2
Personal care services
8121
1,135.3
3.6
3.9
0.3
11.4
7.2
Hair, nail and skin care services
81211
935.4
4.0
2.8
-1.2
9.7
6.7
Funeral homes and funeral services
81221
104.5
5.3
-0.4
-5.4
4.2
4.6
Drycleaning and laundry services
8123
328.7
-2.2
4.6
6.9
8.0
3.2
Coin-operated laundries and drycleaners
81231
46.4
-13.5
0.5
16.2
16.2
15.5
Drycleaning and laundry services
81232
158.8
-9.8
-0.9
9.9
9.2
10.2
Linen and uniform supply
81233
123.5
9.1
10.5
1.3
5.5
-4.5
Photofinishing
81292
13.5
20.4
10.2
-8.5
-14.0
-21.9
Table 2. Average annual percent change in labor productivity, unit labor costs, and related data, 1987-2012
Footnotes (1) For NAICS industries 2213, 484, 4841, 48411, 493, 4931, 49311, and 49312, average annual percent changes are for 1992-2012. (2) For NAICS industries 541211 and 5615, average annual percent changes are for 1997-2012. (3) For NAICS industries 561311, 6215, 621511, and 621512, average annual percent changes are for 1994-2012. (4) For NAICS industries 71391 and 71394, average annual percent changes are for 2002-2012.
United States Department of Labor
