1997 Multifactor Productivity Trends — 1999-02-11

The Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor today reported multifactor productivity data--output per unit of combined labor and capital inputs--for 1997. Multifactor productivity differs from the labor productivity (output per hour) measures that are published quarterly by BLS. Multifactor productivity, unlike labor productivity, requires information on capital services and other data that are not available on a quarterly basis. In the most recent year available, multifactor productivity in the private business and private nonfarm business sectors changed at the following percentage rates: Chart 1 shows the annual indexes of multifactor productivity, output per hour worked, and output per unit of capital services for 1948-1997. Output per hour historically has grown at a faster rate than multifactor productivity. This reflects changes in the contribution of capital intensity (the capital-hours ratio) and changes in the contribution of labor composition, factors that are controlled for in the multifactor productivity measures.