Material Is Embargoed — 1999-03-09

The Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor today reported revised fourth-quarter seasonally-adjusted annual rates of productivity change--as measured by output per hour of all persons--and revised annual changes for the full year 1998. The revised fourth-quarter productivity increases in both the business and nonfarm business sectors were the largest in six years. Percent changes in business and nonfarm business productivity were: For the year 1998, productivity increases in both sectors were larger than those posted for 1997, but slightly less than the increases that occurred in 1996. Fourth-quarter productivity and related measures are summarized in table A and appear in detail in tables 1 through 5; the preliminary and revised fourth-quarter and annual data appear in table C. Manufacturing productivity rose at a 5.2 percent annual rate in the fourth quarter, as output grew 4.7 percent and hours of all persons fell by 0.5 percent (table A).