Productivity And Costs — 1995-05-09

The Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor today reported preliminary productivity data--as measured by output per hour of all persons--for the first quarter of 1995. The seasonally-adjusted annual rates of productivity change in the first quarter were: 0.4 percent in the business sector, and 0.7 percent in the nonfarm business sector. In both sectors, first-quarter productivity gains were much smaller than gains recorded in the fourth quarter of 1994 (as revised). 3.6 percent in manufacturing, 3.8 percent in durable goods manufacturing, and 3.2 percent in nondurable goods manufacturing. The productivity increase in manufacturing in the first quarter was slightly higher than that recorded in the fourth quarter of 1994, and both the output and hours increases were smaller. Output and hours in manufacturing, which includes about 20 percent of U.S. business-sector employment, tend to change more from quarter to quarter than in the business and nonfarm business sectors.