Material Is Embargoed — 2003-12-03

The Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor today reported revised productivity data--as measured by output per hour of all persons--for the third quarter of 2003. The seasonally adjusted annual rates of productivity growth in the third quarter were: 8.6 percent in the business sector, and 9.4 percent in the nonfarm business sector. In both sectors, upward revisions to productivity reflect much larger upward revisions to output than to hours. 9.0 percent in manufacturing, 14.8 percent in durable goods manufacturing, and 3.1 percent in nondurable goods manufacturing. Productivity in the manufacturing sector also rose more rapidly than was reported on Nov. 6. Output and hours both were revised up but the revisions to output were larger than those to hours in the sector. 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.