Productivity And Costs — 2007-12-05

The Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor today reported revised productivity data--as measured by output per hour of all persons--for the third quarter of 2007. The seasonally adjusted annual rates of productivity growth in the third quarter were: 6.7 percent in the business sector and 6.3 percent in the nonfarm business sector. In both sectors, changes in productivity are higher than the preliminary estimates published November 7, and represent the largest productivity gains since the third quarter of 2003. The upward revisions to productivity resulted from upward revisions to output--which grew 5.7 percent in both sectors--and small downward revisions to hours, which fell 1.0 percent in the business sector and 0.6 percent in the nonfarm business sector in the third quarter. 5.0 percent in manufacturing, 6.1 percent in durable goods manufacturing, and 4.3 percent in nondurable goods manufacturing.