Wholesale Trade and Retail Trade Industries, 2024 — 2025-05-29

Labor productivity grew 1.8 percent in wholesale trade and 4.6 percent in retail trade in 2024, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Output grew 2.7 percent in wholesale trade and 3.3 percent in retail trade. Hours worked increased 0.9 percent in wholesale trade and decreased 1.2 percent in retail trade. Unit labor costs, which reflect the total labor costs required to produce a unit of output, rose 1.1 percent in wholesale trade and fell 1.8 percent in retail trade. The ten largest four-digit NAICS industries by employment represent 58.2 percent of all workers in the wholesale and retail trade sectors. Among these ten industries, productivity growth in 2024 was greatest in clothing stores (+7.6 percent), building on its increase in 2023. Three of these ten industries posted productivity declines: machinery and supply merchant wholesalers (-4.2 percent), department stores (-2.4 percent), and grocery and related product wholesalers (-2.0 percent).