2019 First Quarter (Preliminary) Productivity and Costs — 2019-05-02

Nonfarm business sector labor productivity increased 3.6 percent in the first quarter of 2019, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today, as output increased 4.1 percent and hours worked increased 0.5 percent. (All quarterly percent changes in this release are seasonally adjusted annual rates.) From the first quarter of 2018 to the first quarter of 2019, productivity increased 2.4 percent, reflecting a 3.9- percent increase in output and a 1.5-percent increase in hours worked. (See table A1.) The four-quarter increase in productivity is the largest since a 2.7-percent gain in the third quarter of 2010. 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.