Transmission of material in this release is embargoed until USDL 13-0784
8:30 a.m. (EDT) Thursday, May 2, 2013
Technical information: (202) 691-5606 dprweb@bls.gov www.bls.gov/lpc
Media contact (202) 691-5902 PressOffice@bls.gov
PRODUCTIVITY AND COSTS
First Quarter 2013, Preliminary
Nonfarm business sector labor productivity increased at a 0.7 percent annual
rate during the first quarter of 2013, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
reported today. The increase in productivity reflects increases of 2.5 percent
in output and 1.8 percent in hours worked. (All quarterly percent changes in
this release are seasonally adjusted annual rates.) From the first quarter of
2012 to the first quarter of 2013, productivity increased 0.9 percent as
output and hours worked increased 2.5 percent and 1.5 percent, respectively.
(See table A.)
Labor productivity, or output per hour, is calculated by dividing an index of
real output by an index of hours worked of all persons, including employees,
proprietors, and unpaid family workers.
Unit labor costs in nonfarm businesses increased 0.5 percent in the first
quarter of 2013, as an increase in hourly compensation was greater than the
increase in productivity. Unit labor costs rose 0.6 percent over the last four
quarters. (See table A.)
BLS defines unit labor costs as the ratio of hourly compensation to labor
productivity; increases in hourly compensation tend to increase unit labor
costs and increases in output per hour tend to reduce them.
Manufacturing sector productivity increased 3.8 percent in the first quarter
of 2013, as output grew 5.6 percent and hours rose 1.7 percent. Output growth
was robust in both manufacturing subsectors, while virtually all hours growth
occurred in durable manufacturing. Over the last four quarters, manufacturing
sector productivity increased 1.7 percent as output and hours worked rose 2.6
percent and 0.9 percent, respectively. Unit labor costs in manufacturing
decreased 0.5 percent in the first quarter of 2013 and increased 1.6 percent
from the same quarter a year ago. (See tables A and 3.)
Preliminary fourth quarter and annual 2012 measures were announced today for
the nonfinancial corporate sector. Productivity increased 2.3 percent in the
fourth quarter of 2012 and edged up 0.1 percent over the last four quarters.
Annual average productivity increased 0.5 percent from 2011 to 2012.
(See tables C and 6).
The concepts, sources, and methods underlying manufacturing output and
nonfinancial corporate output measures differ from those used in the business
and nonfarm business output series; these output measures are not directly
comparable. See Technical Notes for a more detailed explanation.
Revised measures
Revised measures of real hourly compensation for all sectors, from 2008
onward, reflect revisions in the consumer price series based on new and
revised data from the BLS Office of Prices and Living Conditions. Output data
for the manufacturing sector incorporate historically revised indexes of
industrial production published by the Board of Governors of the Federal
Reserve System on March 22. These revisions affected quarterly manufacturing
output, productivity, and unit labor cost measures for the data series
beginning in 1987 and recent annual measures. Full historical annual and
quarterly measures are available on the labor productivity and costs home
page: http://www.bls.gov/lpc/#data.
In the fourth quarter of 2012, nonfarm business sector productivity declined
1.7 percent, a slightly smaller decline than reported March 7. Unit labor
costs rose 4.4 percent, less than previously reported. Manufacturing sector
productivity rose 2.2 percent in the fourth quarter reflecting a small upward
revision to output. Unit labor costs in the manufacturing sector decreased
slightly less than previously reported, as the upward revision of hourly
compensation was more than that of productivity. (See table B.)
2012 Annual Average measures for productivity and unit labor costs in the
nonfarm business sector were virtually unrevised from the March 7 release. In
the manufacturing sector, a small downward revision to output led to a
downward revision to productivity and an upward revision to unit labor costs.
(See table B.)
____________
The revised Productivity and Costs press release for first-quarter 2013 is
scheduled to be released on Wednesday, June 5, 2013 at 8:30 a.m. (EDT).
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Table A. Preliminary first-quarter 2013 measures: percent change from previous quarter at annual rate
(Q to Q) and from same quarter a year ago (Y to Y)
Sector Nonfarm Durable Nondurable
Business Business Manufacturing Manufacturing Manufacturing
Q to Q Y to Y Q to Q Y to Y Q to Q Y to Y Q to Q Y to Y Q to Q Y to Y
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Productivity 0.7 0.9 1.2 1.0 3.8 1.7 3.7 2.7 4.6 0.6
Output 2.5 2.5 3.3 2.5 5.6 2.6 6.5 3.8 4.7 1.2
Hours 1.8 1.5 2.1 1.5 1.7 0.9 2.7 1.0 0.1 0.7
Hourly
compensation 1.2 1.6 0.9 1.6 3.3 3.3 3.0 3.9 3.7 2.1
Real hourly
compensation -0.3 -0.1 -0.6 -0.1 1.8 1.6 1.4 2.1 2.2 0.4
Unit labor
costs 0.5 0.6 -0.3 0.6 -0.5 1.6 -0.6 1.1 -0.8 1.6
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Table B. Revised and previous measures: fourth quarter and annual averages 2012
Sector Nonfarm Durable Nondurable
Business Business Manufacturing Manufacturing Manufacturing
Revised Previous Revised Previous Revised Previous Revised Previous Revised Previous
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Percent change, annual rate, fourth quarter 2012
Productivity -1.7 -1.9 -1.6 -1.8 2.2 2.1 3.3 2.7 1.0 1.7
Output 0.7 0.5 0.5 0.3 2.6 2.5 3.8 3.5 1.2 1.4
Hours 2.4 2.5 2.1 2.2 0.4 0.4 0.5 0.8 0.2 -0.3
Hourly
compensation 2.7 2.6 3.0 2.9 0.4 0.2 0.2 -0.2 0.6 0.8
Real hourly
compensation 0.4 0.4 0.8 0.7 -1.8 -2.0 -2.0 -2.3 -1.6 -1.3
Unit labor
costs 4.4 4.6 4.7 4.8 -1.8 -1.9 -3.0 -2.9 -0.4 -0.8
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Percent change, annual average 2012
Productivity 0.7 0.7 0.6 0.6 1.9 2.2 4.1 4.6 -0.1 -0.2
Output 2.9 2.9 2.8 2.8 4.2 4.5 7.1 7.7 1.1 1.1
Hours 2.2 2.2 2.2 2.2 2.3 2.3 2.9 3.0 1.3 1.2
Hourly
compensation 1.5 1.4 1.4 1.4 2.2 2.2 2.7 2.6 1.2 1.3
Real hourly
compensation -0.6 -0.6 -0.6 -0.6 0.1 0.2 0.6 0.6 -0.8 -0.8
Unit labor
costs 0.7 0.7 0.8 0.8 0.3 0.0 -1.3 -1.9 1.4 1.4
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Table C. Nonfinancial corporations: preliminary fourth-quarter and annual averages 2012 measures
Real
Hourly hourly Unit Implicit
Produc- compen- compen- labor Unit price
tivity Output Hours sation sation costs profits deflator
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Percent change, annual rate, fourth quarter 2012
Q to Q 2.3 4.1 1.8 1.5 -0.7 -0.7 5.2 -0.6
Y to Y 0.1 1.8 1.7 2.9 1.0 2.8 2.5 1.9
Percent change, annual average 2012
2012 0.5 2.8 2.3 1.8 -0.3 1.4 5.1 1.5
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U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
