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Labor productivity up 0.7 percent from first quarter 2019 to first quarter 2020

June 08, 2020

Private nonfarm business sector labor productivity rose 0.7 percent from the first quarter of 2019 to the first quarter of 2020. Output was unchanged while unit labor costs rose 1.9 percent.
Productivity and costs by sector, percent change from same quarter a year ago, 1st quarter 2020
Sector Business Nonfarm business Manufacturing Durable goods Nondurable goods

Labor productivity (output per hour)

 0.7 0.7 -0.8 -1.2 -0.7

Output

 0.1 0.0 -2.2 -3.2 -1.2

Hours worked

 -0.6 -0.7 -1.4 -2.0 -0.4

Unit labor costs

 1.8 1.9 4.4 5.3 3.6

Hourly compensation

 2.5 2.6 3.5 4.0 2.9

Real hourly compensation

 0.4 0.4 1.4 1.8 0.7

These data are from the Labor Productivity and Costs program. To learn more, see "Productivity and Costs — First Quarter 2020, Revised". 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 real output by an index of hours worked by all persons, including employees, proprietors, and unpaid family workers. The revised measures were based on more recent source data than were available for the preliminary report.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Labor productivity up 0.7 percent from first quarter 2019 to first quarter 2020 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2020/labor-productivity-up-0-7-percent-from-first-quarter-2019-to-first-quarter-2020.htm (visited May 12, 2024).

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