1994 Multifactor Productivity Trends — 1996-01-17

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 1994. Multifactor productivity differs from the labor productivity (output per hour) measures that are published quarterly by BLS. The only input that can be computed on a quarterly basis is aggregate hours (calculated from data on employment and average weekly hours). This permits preparation of quarterly data on labor productivity, but not multifactor productivity, which requires information on capital services and other data 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: Multifactor productivity increased for the third consecutive year in both sectors and at about the same rates as in 1993. The 1994 annual changes are summarized in table A; further detail and historical measures are shown in tables 1 through 8.