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Labor productivity rose in 15 of 28 selected service-providing industries in 2015

May 24, 2016

In 2015, labor productivity rose in 15 of 28 selected service-providing industries. Output grew in all 15 industries with increasing productivity, except newspaper publishers, where output fell 4.6 percent, and line-haul railroads, where output was unchanged. Hours worked declined in 9 of the 28 industries.

Percent change in output and hours worked in selected service-providing industries, 2014–2015
Industry Percent change 2015 employment
Labor productivity Output Hours worked

Utilities

 

Power generation and supply

-1.7 -0.7 1.0 394,600

Natural gas distribution

-4.4 -0.9 3.6 114,100

Water, sewage and other systems

-7.6 -3.7 4.2 50,000

Transportation and Warehousing

 

Air transportation

-0.3 4.5 4.8 434,600

Line-haul railroads

2.2 0.0 -2.1 189,800

General freight trucking, local

-4.0 -1.4 2.7 313,100

General freight trucking, long-distance

1.1 3.2 2.0 881,100

Specialized freight trucking

-3.0 -2.5 0.5 477,800

Postal service

0.1 1.3 1.2 596,800

Couriers and messengers

-6.1 -1.0 5.5 636,900

Warehousing and storage

-4.4 3.0 7.8 821,200

Information

 

Newspaper publishers

1.1 -4.6 -5.6 201,900

Periodical publishers

-10.7 -5.2 6.1 114,100

Software publishers

-4.2 3.3 7.8 334,300

Radio and television broadcasting

5.2 5.0 -0.2 227,500

Cable and other subscription programming

4.6 4.3 -0.3 64,700

Wired telecommunications carriers

3.4 0.4 -2.9 595,700

Wireless telecommunications carriers

26.5 11.3 -12.0 131,500

Finance and Insurance

 

Commercial banking

4.7 2.2 -2.4 1,272,300

Real Estate and Rental and Leasing

 

Truck, trailer, and RV rental and leasing

-5.6 6.1 12.5 72,100

Professional and Technical Services

 

Accounting and bookkeeping services

1.7 5.2 3.5 1,140,000

Engineering services

-7.3 -5.9 1.5 969,900

Administrative and Waste Services

 

Travel arrangement and reservation services

-3.7 0.3 4.2 222,100

Health Care and Social Assistance

 

Medical and diagnostic laboratories

2.2 6.8 4.5 268,400

Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation

 

Amusement parks and arcades

8.0 3.9 -3.8 203,000

Gambling industries

4.6 7.4 2.7 137,600

Other Services

 

Automotive repair and maintenance

5.3 6.2 0.8 1,130,500

Drycleaning and laundry services

3.8 3.3 -0.4 310,300

From 2014 to 2015, productivity gains of at least 8 percent occurred in two industries where output increased and hours worked decreased: wireless telecommunications carriers (26.5 percent) and amusement parks and arcades (8.0 percent).

In 2015, 4 industries recorded output gains of at least 3 percent but had productivity declines because of larger increases in hours worked: truck, trailer, and RV rental and leasing (−5.6 percent), warehousing and storage (−4.4 percent), software publishers (−4.2 percent), and air transportation (−0.3 percent).

These data are from the Labor Productivity and Costs program. Data are preliminary and may be revised. To learn more, see "Productivity and Costs by Industry: Selected Service-Providing Industries, 2015" (HTML) (PDF).

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Labor productivity rose in 15 of 28 selected service-providing industries in 2015 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2016/labor-productivity-rose-in-15-of-28-selected-service-providing-industries-in-2015.htm (visited March 29, 2024).

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