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Productivity increased 1.3 percent from first quarter 2017 to first quarter 2018

May 11, 2018

Labor productivity in nonfarm business increased 1.3 percent from the first quarter of 2017 to the first quarter of 2018. Real hourly compensation increased 0.2 percent, hours worked increased 2.2 percent, and output increased 3.6 percent.

Percent change in productivity measures from first quarter 2017 to first quarter 2018
Measure Nonfarm business(p) Business(p) Manufacturing(p) Durable manufacturing(p) Nondurable manufacturing(p)

Labor Productivity

1.3% 1.4% 0.8% 1.5% -0.1%

Output

3.6 3.5 2.5 2.6 2.3

Hours worked

2.2 2.1 1.6 1.2 2.4

Hourly compensation

2.5 2.6 2.1 2.9 0.7

Real hourly compensation

0.2 0.3 -0.1 0.7 -1.5

Unit labor costs

1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 0.9
Footnotes:

(p) = preliminary.

Manufacturing saw a 0.8-percent increase in labor productivity from the first quarter of 2017 to the first quarter of 2018, as output increased 2.5 percent and hours worked increased 1.6 percent.

These data are from the Labor Productivity and Costs program. For more information, see “Labor Productivity and Costs — First Quarter 2018, Preliminary” (HTML) (PDF). 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. More labor productivity charts can be found at Graphics for Economic News Releases: Productivity and Costs.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Productivity increased 1.3 percent from first quarter 2017 to first quarter 2018 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2018/productivity-increased-1-point-3-percent-from-first-quarter-2017-to-first-quarter-2018.htm (visited April 19, 2024).

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