Productivity by Industry, 1993 and 1994 — 1996-01-30

The Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today on labor productivity changes in 1993 and 1994 for selected industries in the U.S. economy. Labor productivity--as measured by output per employee hour--has been updated through 1993 for nearly all of the industries measured by BLS. Additionally, most of the measures in the nonmanufacturing sector, which includes mining, transportation, communications, utilities, trade, and services, have been updated to 1994. In the manufacturing sector, labor productivity increased in 1993 in 77 of the 104 industries measured. Productivity rose in 1992 in 80 of those same industries. (1994 productivity data are not available for the manufacturing sector. See note on page 3.) In motor vehicles and equipment, output per hour advanced by 1.2 percent in 1993, following an 8.0 percent gain in 1992. The aircraft industry also recorded a much smaller increase in labor productivity (0.5 percent) in 1993 compared with 1992 (8.6 percent).