For release 10:00 a.m. (EDT) Wednesday, March 21, 2012 USDL 12-0494
Technical information: (202) 691-5606• mfpweb@bls.gov • www.bls.gov/mfp
Media contact: (202) 691-5902• PressOffice@bls.gov
MULTIFACTOR PRODUCTIVITY TRENDS - 2010
Private nonfarm business sector multifactor productivity increased at a 3.5
percent annual rate in 2010, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported
today. This was the largest increase recorded in the series, which began in
1987. (See chart 1, table A.) The multifactor productivity gain in 2010
reflected a 4.0 percent increase in output and 0.5 percent increase in the
combined inputs of capital and labor. Capital services grew by 0.4 percent,
and labor input – which is the combined effect of hours worked and labor
composition – grew 0.5 percent. (See table A, table 1.) The combination of
fast-rising output and a modest increase in capital services caused output
per unit of capital services to rise 3.6 percent, the largest gain since
the series began in 1987.
Multifactor productivity measures the change in output per unit of combined
capital and labor input. It is designed to measure the joint influences of
technological change, efficiency improvements, returns to scale, reallocation
of resources, and other factors on economic growth, allowing for the effects
of capital and labor. Multifactor productivity, therefore, differs from labor
productivity (output per hour worked) measures that are published quarterly
by BLS. Multifactor productivity includes information on capital services,
hours worked, and shifts in the composition of labor. Estimates of capital
services and labor composition are not included in the quarterly labor
productivity measures. Additionally, much of the source data needed to
construct multifactor productivity measures are not available quarterly.
Private business sector multifactor productivity increased at a 3.4 percent
annual rate in 2010, reversing a decline of 0.8 percent in 2009. The
multifactor productivity gain in 2010 reflected a 4.0 percent increase in
output and 0.5 percent increase in the combined inputs of capital and labor.
Capital services grew by 0.5 percent, and labor input grew by 0.6 percent.
(See table A, table 2.)
Historical trends in private nonfarm business
Multifactor productivity in private nonfarm business grew 0.9 percent
annually from 1987 to 2010. (See table A.) For the 2007-2010 period,
multifactor productivity grew 0.3 percent, due to a 0.9 percent decline in
output coupled with a 1.2 percent decline in combined inputs. In contrast,
the 3.5 percent increase in multifactor productivity in 2010 was a result
of an increase in output much larger than the increase in combined inputs.
The 4.0 percent rise in output over the year represents the largest increase
since 2004. (See table 1.)
Annual labor productivity growth can be viewed as the sum of three components:
multifactor productivity growth, the contribution of capital intensity, and
the contribution of shifts in labor composition. Output per hour shifted
sharply upwards after the 1990-1995 period. In particular, the contribution of
capital intensity to labor productivity growth became more pronounced after
1995. (See chart 2, table B.)
For the 2007-2010 period, the contribution of capital intensity increased at
a 1.6 percent annual rate and the contribution of labor composition increased
at a 0.5 percent annual rate, faster than the gains seen in the
1995-2000 and 2000-2007 periods. Gains made in private nonfarm business output
per hour due to the rising contributions of capital intensity and of labor
composition were tempered by slower multifactor productivity growth.
(See chart 2, table B.)
For the 2000-2007 period, information processing equipment and software (IPES)
grew 8.1 percent annually in the private nonfarm business sector.
(See table 5.) For the 2007-2010 period, IPES slowed to 4.4 percent annually.
For both periods, the rate of increase in information processing equipment
and software was markedly lower than the double-digit increase observed in
the 1995-2000 period.
The revised multifactor productivity measure for the most recent year reflects
the use of a more rigorous methodology than that used in the preliminary
multifactor productivity release published on May 19, 2011
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/archives/prod3_05192011.pdf. Revisions to
underlying data affect multifactor productivity growth rates for the
2007-2010 period. (See table C.) In 2010, multifactor productivity growth
in the private nonfarm business sector was 3.5 percent, larger than the 3.2
percent increase reported May 19, 2011, mainly due to a 0.3 percent upward
revision to output. For 2009, multifactor productivity growth in the private
nonfarm business sector was revised downward to a 1.0 percent decline, a 1.1
percent downward revision. This was largely due to a revision to output from
a 3.7 percent decline to a fall of 5.0 percent.
Table A. Compound annual growth rates for productivity, output, and inputs
in the private nonfarm business and private business sectors for selected
periods,1987-2010
In percent
1987- 1987- 1990- 1995- 2000- 2007- 2009-
2010 1990 1995 2000 2007 2010 2010
Private nonfarm business1
Productivity
Multifactor Productivity2 0.9 0.5 0.5 1.3 1.4 0.3 3.5
Output per hour of all
persons 2.2 1.4 1.6 2.7 2.6 2.4 4.1
Output per unit of
capital services -0.8 -0.4 -0.4 -1.0 -0.5 -2.2 3.6
Output 2.8 3.2 2.9 5.0 2.7 -0.9 4.0
Inputs
Combined inputs3 1.9 2.7 2.4 3.6 1.3 -1.2 0.5
Labor input4 1.1 2.3 2.0 2.5 0.4 -2.5 0.5
Hours 0.6 1.7 1.3 2.2 0.1 -3.2 -0.1
Labor Composition5 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.3 0.3 0.7 0.7
Capital services 3.6 3.6 3.3 6.0 3.2 1.3 0.4
Analytic ratio
Capital services per
hour of all persons 3.1 1.9 1.9 3.8 3.1 4.7 0.6
Private business1
Productivity
Multifactor Productivity2 1.0 0.6 0.4 1.5 1.4 0.5 3.4
Output per hour of all
persons 2.3 1.6 1.5 2.9 2.7 2.5 4.1
Output per unit of
capital services -0.7 -0.4 -0.3 -0.8 -0.5 -1.9 3.5
Output 2.8 3.2 2.8 5.0 2.7 -0.8 4.0
Inputs
Combined inputs3 1.8 2.6 2.4 3.4 1.2 -1.2 0.5
Labor input4 1.0 2.1 2.0 2.4 0.3 -2.5 0.6
Hours 0.5 1.6 1.3 2.0 0.0 -3.2 -0.1
Labor Composition5 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.3 0.3 0.7 0.7
Capital services 3.5 3.6 3.1 5.8 3.2 1.2 0.5
Analytic ratio
Capital services per
hour of all persons 3.0 2.0 1.8 3.7 3.1 4.5 0.6
1. Excludes government enterprises.
2. Output per unit of combined labor input and capital services.
3. The growth rate of each input is weighted by its share of current dollar
costs.
4. Hours at work by age, education, and gender group are weighted by each
group’s share of the total wage bill.
5. Ratio of labor input to hours.
Table B. Compound annual growth rates in output per hour of all persons
and the contributions of capital intensity, labor composition, and
multifactor productivity in the private nonfarm business and private
business sectors for selected periods, 1987-2010
In percent
1987- 1987- 1990- 1995- 2000- 2007- 2009-
2010 1990 1995 2000 2007 2010 2010
Private nonfarm business1
Output per hour
of all persons 2.2 1.4 1.6 2.7 2.6 2.4 4.1
Contribution of
capital intensity2 1.0 0.6 0.6 1.2 1.0 1.6 0.2
Contribution of
information processing
equipment and software3 0.6 0.5 0.5 0.9 0.5 0.6 0.3
Contribution of all
other capital services 0.4 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.4 1.0 -0.1
Contribution of
labor composition4 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.2 0.2 0.5 0.4
Multifactor productivity5 0.9 0.5 0.5 1.3 1.4 0.3 3.5
Contribution of R&D to
multifactor productivity 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2
Private business1
Output per hour
of all persons 2.3 1.6 1.5 2.9 2.7 2.5 4.1
Contribution of
capital intensity2 1.0 0.6 0.6 1.2 1.0 1.5 0.2
Contribution of
information processing
equipment and software3 0.6 0.5 0.4 0.9 0.5 0.6 0.3
Contribution of all
other capital services 0.4 0.2 0.1 0.3 0.4 1.0 0.0
Contribution of
labor composition4 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.2 0.2 0.5 0.4
Multifactor productivity5 1.0 0.6 0.4 1.5 1.4 0.5 3.4
1. Excludes government enterprises.
2. Capital services per hour multiplied by capital's share of current
dollar costs.
3. Information processing equipment and software per hour multiplied by
its share of current dollar costs.
4. Labor composition multiplied by labor's share of current dollar costs.
5. Output per unit of combined labor input and capital services.
Note: Multifactor productivity plus contribution of capital intensity and
labor composition may not sum to output per hour due to independent
rounding. Contribution of information processing equipment and all other
capital services may not sum to the contribution of capital intensity due
to independent rounding.
Table C. Annual growth rates of the previous and revised multifactor
productivity measures in the private nonfarm business and private
business sectors for the 1987-2010 period
Annual percent change from previous year
Private Nonfarm Business Private Business
Year Previous Revised Previous Revised
1988 1.0 1.0 0.8 0.8
1989 0.0 0.0 0.3 0.3
1990 0.4 0.4 0.6 0.6
1991 -1.0 -1.0 -1.0 -1.0
1992 2.3 2.3 2.6 2.6
1993 0.3 0.3 0.2 0.2
1994 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7
1995 0.0 0.0 -0.3 -0.3
1996 1.4 1.4 1.7 1.7
1997 0.6 0.6 0.8 0.8
1998 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5
1999 1.7 1.6 1.9 1.8
2000 1.6 1.6 1.7 1.7
2001 0.7 0.7 0.8 0.8
2002 2.4 2.4 2.3 2.4
2003 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7
2004 2.5 2.4 2.6 2.4
2005 1.1 1.1 1.1 1.0
2006 0.4 0.4 0.5 0.5
2007 0.4 0.3 0.3 0.3
2008 -1.0 -1.4 -0.9 -1.2
2009 0.1 -1.0 0.2 -0.8
2010 3.2 3.5 3.2 3.4
Technical Notes
Capital Services: Capital services are the services derived from the stock
of physical assets and software. There are 86 asset types for fixed business
equipment and software, structures, inventories, and land. Data on investments
in physical assets are obtained from BEA. Data on inventories are estimated
using BEA and additional information from IRS Corporation Income Returns.
Data for land in the farm sector are obtained from USDA. Nonfarm industry
detail for land is based on IRS book value data. Current-dollar value-added
data, obtained from BEA, are used in estimating capital rental prices.
Among equipment, BLS provides additional detail in tables 5 and 6 on
information processing equipment and software (IPES). IPES is composed of
four broad classes of assets: computers and related equipment, software,
communications equipment, and other IPES equipment. Computers and related
equipment includes mainframe computers, personal computers, printers,
terminals, tape drives, storage devices, and integrated systems. Software
is comprised of pre-packaged, custom, and own-account software. Communications
equipment is not further differentiated. Other IPES includes medical equipment
and related instruments, electromedical instruments, nonmedical instruments,
photocopying and related equipment, and office and accounting machinery.
Structures include nonresidential structures and residential capital that are
rented out by profit-making firms or persons.
Financial assets are excluded from capital services measures, as are
owner-occupied residential structures. The aggregate capital services measures
are obtained by Tornqvist aggregation of the capital stocks for each asset type
within each of 60 NAICS industry groupings using estimated rental prices for
each asset type. Each rental price reflects the nominal rate of return to all
assets within the industry and rates of economic depreciation and revaluation
for the specific asset; rental prices are adjusted for the effects of taxes.
Current-dollar capital costs can be defined as each asset’s rental price
multiplied by its constant-dollar stock, adjusting for capital composition
effects.
Labor Input: Labor input in private business and private nonfarm business is
obtained by chained superlative (Tornqvist) aggregation of the hours at work
by all persons, classified by age, education, and gender with weights
determined by each group’s share of the total wage bill. Hours paid of
employees are largely obtained from the Current Employment Statistics program
(CES). These hours paid are then converted to an at-work basis by using
information from the Employment Cost Index (ECI) of the National Compensation
Survey (NCS) benchmarked to the Hours at Work Survey. Hours at work for
nonproduction and supervisory workers are derived using data from the Current
Population Survey (CPS), the CES, and the NCS. The hours at work of
proprietors, unpaid family workers, and farm employees are derived from the
Current Population Survey. Hours at work data reflect Productivity and Costs
data as of the February 2, 2012 “Productivity and Costs” news release
(USDL-12-0162). The growth rate of labor composition is defined as the
difference between the growth rate of weighted labor input and the growth rate
of the hours of all persons. Additional information concerning data sources
and methods of measuring labor composition can be found in Cindy Zoghi, 2007,
“Measuring Labor Composition: A Comparison of Alternate Methodologies”
http://www.bls.gov/bls/fesacp1121407.pdf.
Combined Inputs: Labor input and capital services are combined using chained
superlative Tornqvist aggregation, applying weights that represent each
component's share of total costs. The chained superlative Tornqvist index uses
changing weights; the share in each year is averaged with the preceding year's
share. Total costs are defined as the value of output less a portion of taxes
on production and imports. Most of the taxes on production and imports, such
as excise taxes, are excluded from costs; however, property and motor vehicle
taxes remain in total costs.
Capital Intensity: Capital intensity is the ratio of capital to hours worked
in the production process. The higher the capital to hours ratio, the more
capital intensive the production process is.
In a production process, profit maximizing/cost-minimizing firms adjust the
factor proportions of capital and labor if the price of one factor is less
than the other factor; there would be a tendency for the firms to substitute
the less expensive factor for the more expensive one. In the short run, changes
in hours worked are more variable than changes in capital services. Changes
in hours worked in business cycles can result in volatility of the capital
intensity ratio over short periods of time. In the long run an increase in
wages relative to the price of capital will induce the firm to substitute
capital for labor, resulting in an increase in capital intensity.
Rising labor costs are, in fact, an incentive for firms to introduce automated
production processes. Industry estimates of capital to hours ratios can be
obtained at http://www.bls.gov/mfp/mprdload.htm.
Output: Private business sector output is a chain-type, current-weighted
index constructed after excluding from gross domestic product (GDP) the
following outputs: general government, nonprofit institutions, private
households (including owner-occupied housing), and government enterprises.
This release presents data for the private business and private nonfarm
business sectors. The private business sector, which accounted for
approximately 76 percent of gross domestic product in 2005, includes all of
gross domestic product except the output of general government, government
enterprises, non-profit institutions, the rental value of owner-occupied real
estate, and the output of paid employees of private households. The private
nonfarm business sector excludes farms but includes agricultural services.
All multifactor productivity measures exclude government enterprises, however
government enterprises are included in the business and nonfarm business
sectors covered by the BLS quarterly productivity measures. The output
measures are based on the revised National Income and Product Accounts
(NIPA) data released by BEA on January 27, 2012.
Multifactor Productivity: Multifactor productivity measures describe the
relationship between output in real terms and the inputs involved in its
production. They do not measure the specific contributions of labor or capital,
or any other factor of production. Rather, multifactor productivity is
designed to measure the joint influences of technological change, efficiency
improvements, returns to scale, reallocation of resources, and other factors
on economic growth, allowing for the effects of capital and labor.
The multifactor productivity indexes for private business and private nonfarm
business are derived by dividing an output index by an index of capital
services and labor input. The output indexes are computed as chained
superlative indexes (Fisher Ideal indexes) of components of real output.
Research and development: The stock of research and development in private
nonfarm business is derived by cumulating constant dollar measures of research
and development expenditures and allowing for depreciation. Current dollar
expenditures for privately financed research and development are obtained from
annual issues of Research and Development in Industry published by the
National Science Foundation. BLS develops price deflators and estimates of the
rate of depreciation. Further description of these data and methods can be
found in BLS Bulletin 2331 (September 1989), "The Impact of Research and
Development on Productivity Growth." BLS measures of year-to-year contributions
of research and development to the private nonfarm business sector and
measures of the stock of research and development are available at
http://www.bls.gov/mfp/rdtable.pdf.
Other information: Comprehensive tables containing additional data beyond the
scope of this press release are available upon request at 202-691-5606 or at
http://www.bls.gov/mfp/mprdload.htm. More detailed information on methods,
limitations, and data sources of capital and labor are provided in BLS Bulletin
2178 (September 1983), “Trends in Multifactor Productivity, 1948-81” and on
the BLS Multifactor Productivity website under the title “Technical Information
About the BLS Multifactor Productivity Measures” for Major Sectors and 18 NAICS
3-digit Manufacturing Industries at http://www.bls.gov/mfp/mprtech.pdf. General
information is available on the BLS Multifactor Productivity website at
http://www.bls.gov/mfp/mprover.htm. Additional data not contained in the
release can be obtained in print or at http://www.bls.gov/mfp. A number of
comprehensive tables set up as zip files can be obtained at
http://www.bls.gov/mfp/mprdload.htm. Included in the additional data available
in the home page is a zip file containing selected multifactor productivity
data that links 1948-87 SIC data to NAICS data from 1987 forward. This file
includes data for the private business and private nonfarm business sectors.
Table 1. Private nonfarm business sector: productivity and related measures
for the 1987-2010 period1
Annual percent change from previous year
Combined
Output units of
Output per labor in-
per unit of Multi- put and Capital
hour capital factor Capital capital services
of all servic- Product- Labor Servic- servic- per hour of
Year persons es ivity2 Output3 Input4 es5 es6 all persons
1988 1.7 0.9 1.0 4.6 3.5 3.6 3.5 0.7
1989 0.8 -0.4 0.0 3.5 3.3 4.0 3.5 1.2
1990 1.9 -1.7 0.4 1.4 0.1 3.2 1.1 3.7
1991 1.7 -3.6 -1.0 -0.9 -1.1 2.9 0.1 5.5
1992 4.0 1.5 2.3 3.8 1.0 2.3 1.4 2.5
1993 0.6 0.4 0.3 3.6 3.3 3.2 3.3 0.3
1994 1.1 1.1 0.7 4.7 4.1 3.6 3.9 0.0
1995 0.5 -1.1 0.0 3.3 2.7 4.4 3.2 1.6
1996 2.6 -0.3 1.4 4.4 2.2 4.8 3.0 2.9
1997 1.5 -0.4 0.6 5.1 4.0 5.5 4.5 1.9
1998 2.9 -1.2 1.5 5.2 2.4 6.4 3.6 4.2
1999 3.3 -1.2 1.6 5.6 2.6 6.9 3.9 4.5
2000 3.4 -2.0 1.6 4.5 1.2 6.5 2.8 5.5
2001 3.1 -3.6 0.7 1.0 -1.6 4.7 0.3 7.0
2002 4.7 -1.3 2.4 1.9 -2.0 3.3 -0.4 6.1
2003 3.8 0.5 2.5 3.1 -0.4 2.7 0.6 3.3
2004 2.6 1.5 2.4 4.0 1.2 2.5 1.6 1.1
2005 1.6 0.4 1.1 3.4 2.0 3.0 2.3 1.2
2006 0.9 -0.1 0.4 3.2 2.5 3.3 2.8 1.0
2007 1.6 -0.8 0.3 2.2 1.2 3.0 1.8 2.5
2008 0.7 -4.0 -1.4 -1.5 -1.5 2.7 -0.1 4.9
2009 2.5 -5.8 -1.0 -5.0 -6.5 0.8 -4.0 8.7
2010 4.1 3.6 3.5 4.0 0.5 0.4 0.5 0.6
See footnotes following table 4.
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics
Table 2. Private business sector: productivity and related measures
for the 1987-2010 period1
Annual percent change from previous year
Combined
Output units of
Output per labor in-
per unit of Multi- put and Capital
hour capital factor Capital capital services
of all servic- Product- Labor Servic- servic- per hour of
Year persons es ivity2 Output3 Input4 es5 es6 all persons
1988 1.5 0.5 0.8 4.3 3.4 3.8 3.5 1.0
1989 1.0 -0.2 0.3 3.7 3.2 3.9 3.4 1.2
1990 2.2 -1.5 0.6 1.5 -0.1 3.0 0.9 3.7
1991 1.6 -3.4 -1.0 -0.8 -1.0 2.7 0.2 5.2
1992 4.2 1.8 2.6 4.0 1.0 2.1 1.4 2.3
1993 0.6 0.2 0.2 3.3 3.1 3.1 3.1 0.4
1994 0.9 1.4 0.7 5.0 4.5 3.5 4.2 -0.4
1995 0.1 -1.3 -0.3 2.9 2.7 4.3 3.2 1.5
1996 2.9 0.0 1.7 4.6 2.0 4.6 2.8 2.9
1997 1.8 -0.1 0.8 5.2 3.9 5.3 4.4 1.8
1998 3.0 -1.1 1.5 5.0 2.3 6.2 3.5 4.1
1999 3.5 -1.0 1.8 5.6 2.4 6.7 3.7 4.5
2000 3.5 -1.7 1.7 4.6 1.2 6.3 2.8 5.3
2001 3.2 -3.5 0.8 0.9 -1.8 4.6 0.1 7.0
2002 4.6 -1.2 2.4 2.0 -1.9 3.2 -0.4 5.9
2003 3.9 0.6 2.7 3.2 -0.4 2.6 0.5 3.3
2004 2.8 1.4 2.4 4.1 1.1 2.6 1.6 1.3
2005 1.7 0.2 1.0 3.5 2.0 3.2 2.4 1.5
2006 1.0 0.0 0.5 3.1 2.4 3.1 2.6 1.0
2007 1.6 -0.7 0.3 2.1 1.2 2.8 1.7 2.3
2008 0.7 -3.7 -1.2 -1.3 -1.4 2.4 -0.1 4.6
2009 2.6 -5.4 -0.8 -4.8 -6.5 0.6 -4.1 8.4
2010 4.1 3.5 3.4 4.0 0.6 0.5 0.5 0.6
See footnotes following table 4.
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics
Table 3. Private nonfarm business sector: indexes of productivity and related
measures, 1987-2010(1)
Indexes 2005=100
Combined
Output units of
Output per labor in-
per unit of Multi- put and Capital
hour capital factor Capital capital services
of all servic- Product- Labor Servic- servic- per hour of
Year persons es ivity2 Output3 Input4 es5 es6 all persons
1987 66.3 111.4 82.3 54.2 75.5 48.7 65.9 59.5
1988 67.4 112.4 83.2 56.7 78.2 50.5 68.2 59.9
1989 67.9 112.0 83.2 58.7 80.8 52.5 70.6 60.6
1990 69.2 110.0 83.5 59.6 80.8 54.2 71.4 62.9
1991 70.3 106.0 82.7 59.1 79.9 55.7 71.4 66.3
1992 73.1 107.6 84.6 61.3 80.7 57.0 72.5 67.9
1993 73.6 108.0 84.9 63.5 83.4 58.8 74.9 68.1
1994 74.4 109.2 85.5 66.5 86.9 60.9 77.8 68.1
1995 74.7 107.9 85.5 68.7 89.2 63.6 80.3 69.2
1996 76.7 107.6 86.7 71.7 91.1 66.7 82.8 71.3
1997 77.8 107.2 87.2 75.4 94.8 70.4 86.5 72.6
1998 80.1 105.9 88.5 79.3 97.1 74.9 89.6 75.6
1999 82.7 104.7 89.9 83.8 99.6 80.0 93.1 79.0
2000 85.6 102.6 91.4 87.5 100.8 85.3 95.8 83.4
2001 88.3 99.0 92.1 88.4 99.2 89.3 96.0 89.2
2002 92.4 97.7 94.2 90.1 97.2 92.3 95.6 94.6
2003 95.8 98.1 96.6 92.9 96.9 94.7 96.2 97.7
2004 98.4 99.6 98.9 96.7 98.1 97.1 97.7 98.8
2005 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
2006 100.9 99.9 100.4 103.2 102.5 103.3 102.8 101.0
2007 102.6 99.1 100.7 105.4 103.8 106.4 104.7 103.6
2008 103.3 95.0 99.3 103.9 102.2 109.3 104.6 108.7
2009 105.8 89.6 98.3 98.7 95.6 110.1 100.4 118.1
2010 110.2 92.8 101.7 102.6 96.1 110.6 100.9 118.8
See footnotes following table 4.
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics
Table 4. Private business sector: indexes of productivity and related
measures, 1987-2010(1)
Indexes 2005=100
Combined
Output units of
Output per labor in-
per unit of Multi- put and Capital
hour capital factor Capital capital services
of all servic- Product- Labor Servic- servic- per hour of
Year persons es ivity2 Output3 Input4 es5 es6 all persons
1987 65.4 109.3 81.4 54.2 76.4 49.6 66.6 59.9
1988 66.4 109.9 82.1 56.5 78.9 51.4 68.9 60.5
1989 67.1 109.7 82.3 58.6 81.5 53.5 71.3 61.2
1990 68.6 108.1 82.8 59.5 81.4 55.1 71.9 63.5
1991 69.7 104.4 82.0 59.1 80.5 56.6 72.0 66.8
1992 72.6 106.3 84.1 61.4 81.4 57.8 73.0 68.3
1993 73.1 106.5 84.3 63.4 83.9 59.6 75.3 68.6
1994 73.8 108.0 84.9 66.6 87.7 61.7 78.4 68.3
1995 73.8 106.5 84.6 68.5 90.0 64.3 80.9 69.3
1996 76.0 106.6 86.1 71.7 91.8 67.2 83.2 71.3
1997 77.3 106.5 86.8 75.4 95.4 70.8 86.9 72.6
1998 79.6 105.3 88.0 79.2 97.6 75.2 89.9 75.6
1999 82.4 104.3 89.7 83.6 99.9 80.2 93.3 79.0
2000 85.3 102.6 91.2 87.4 101.1 85.3 95.9 83.2
2001 88.0 98.9 91.9 88.3 99.3 89.2 96.0 89.0
2002 92.1 97.8 94.1 90.0 97.4 92.1 95.6 94.2
2003 95.7 98.4 96.7 92.9 97.0 94.4 96.1 97.3
2004 98.4 99.8 99.0 96.7 98.1 96.9 97.7 98.6
2005 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
2006 101.0 100.0 100.5 103.1 102.4 103.1 102.6 101.0
2007 102.6 99.3 100.8 105.2 103.6 106.0 104.4 103.2
2008 103.3 95.7 99.6 103.8 102.1 108.5 104.3 108.0
2009 106.0 90.5 98.8 98.9 95.5 109.2 100.1 117.1
2010 110.3 93.7 102.2 102.8 96.0 109.7 100.6 117.8
See footnotes following table 4.
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics
Footnotes, Tables 1-4
Source: The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) develops productivity measures
using output and compensation data published by the Bureau of Economic
Analysis (BEA), hours data published by other BLS programs, and capital data
supplied by BEA and U.S. Department of Agriculture. Also see Technical Notes
in this release.
(1) The private business sector covers gross domestic product with the
exception of the output of general government, government enterprises,
non-profit institutions, the rental value of owner-occupied real estate,
and the output of paid employees of private households. The private
nonfarm business sector further excludes farms but includes agricultural
services.
(2) Output per unit of combined labor and capital services.
(3) Gross domestic product originating in the sector, chained superlative
index.
(4) Index of hours at work of all persons including employees, proprietors,
and unpaid family workers, classified by age, education, and gender.
This chained superlative index is computed by combining changes in the
hours of each age, education, and gender group weighted by each group’s
share of the total wage bill.
(5) A measure of the flow of capital services used in the sector. Capital
services measure the services derived from the stock of physical assets
and software. The assets included are fixed business equipment,
structures, inventories, and land.
(6) The growth rates of labor input and capital services are combined by
weighting with their respective shares of current dollar costs, and
aggregating into a chained superlative index.
Table 5. Compound average annual growth rates in real capital services
by asset type, private nonfarm business sector, 1987-2010
In percent
1987- 1987- 1990- 1995- 2000- 2007- 2009-
2010 1990 1995 2000 2007 2010 2010
All Assets 3.6 3.6 3.3 6.0 3.2 1.3 0.4
Equipment 5.6 4.9 5.1 10.0 5.0 1.7 0.5
All Information 10.4 11.0 9.6 17.8 8.1 4.4 3.3
Processing
Equipment & Software
(IPES)
Computers & 20.0 19.2 16.1 40.7 13.8 10.5 9.6
related equipment
Software 11.6 17.8 13.4 16.8 8.0 3.4 2.1
Communication 7.0 6.0 5.3 10.7 7.1 4.4 3.6
equipment
Other IPES 3.2 2.8 4.0 3.5 3.0 2.0 1.3
All other equipment 2.0 2.2 1.9 3.2 1.9 0.5 -0.3
Structures 2.0 3.0 2.0 2.3 1.5 1.5 0.9
Residential rental 1.2 1.9 1.0 1.6 1.4 0.0 -0.4
capital
Inventories 2.2 3.4 2.2 4.2 1.8 -1.7 -2.0
Land 1.5 1.9 1.3 1.7 1.4 1.4 0.7
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics
Note: For a brief discussion of methods used in preparing these data,
see Technical Notes in this release.
Table 6. Compound average annual growth rates in real capital services
by asset type, private business sector, 1987-2010
In percent
1987- 1987- 1990- 1995- 2000- 2007- 2009-
2010 1990 1995 2000 2007 2010 2010
All Assets 3.5 3.6 3.1 5.8 3.2 1.2 0.5
Equipment 5.5 4.6 4.9 9.9 5.0 1.7 0.5
All Information 10.4 11.0 9.6 17.8 8.1 4.4 3.3
Processing
Equipment & Software
(IPES)
Computers & 20.0 19.2 16.1 40.7 13.8 10.5 9.6
related equipment
Software 11.6 17.8 13.4 16.8 8.0 3.4 2.1
Communication 7.0 6.0 5.3 10.7 7.1 4.4 3.6
equipment
Other IPES 3.2 2.9 4.0 3.6 3.1 2.0 1.3
All other equipment 1.9 2.2 1.8 3.0 1.8 0.3 -0.3
Structures 1.9 2.9 1.9 2.2 1.5 1.5 0.9
Residential rental 1.2 1.9 1.0 1.6 1.4 0.0 -0.4
capital
Inventories 2.1 2.9 2.2 4.1 1.7 -1.6 -1.9
Land 1.4 3.1 1.3 1.3 1.3 0.2 0.8
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics
Note: For a brief discussion of methods used in preparing these data,
see Technical Notes in this release.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
