Material Is Embargoed — 2003-03-06

The Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor today reported revised fourth-quarter seasonally-adjusted annual rates of productivity change--as measured by output per hour of all persons--and revised annual changes for the full year 2002. Percent changes in business and nonfarm business productivity were: In both sectors, fourth-quarter productivity increased rather than declining as originally reported. Fourth-quarter productivity and related measures are summarized in table A and appear in detail in tables 1 through 5; the preliminary and revised fourth-quarter and annual data appear in table C. Manufacturing productivity rose 0.1 percent (seasonally adjusted annual rate) in the fourth quarter. This increase was lower than originally reported, reflecting downward revisions to output per hour in both the durable and nondurable goods manufacturing subsectors. (Output and hours in manufacturing, which includes about 15 percent of U.S. business-sector employment, tend to vary more from quarter to quarter than data for the aggregate business and nonfarm business sectors.) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Table A.