Material Is Embargoed — 2001-06-05

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 first quarter of 2001. The revised seasonally adjusted annual rates of productivity change in the first quarter were: -1.4 percent in the business sector, and -1.2 percent in the nonfarm business sector. In both sectors, the first-quarter productivity gains were lower than those reported initially on May 8. (These data do not reflect the employment benchmark of the BLS Current Employment Statistics data released on June 1.) In manufacturing, the revised productivity changes in the first quarter were: -2.1 percent in manufacturing, -2.4 percent in durable goods manufacturing, and -2.0 percent in nondurable goods manufacturing. The declines in manufacturing productivity reflected decreases in output that were larger than the corresponding decreases in hours worked. The productivity decline in manufacturing was the first recorded since the third quarter of 1993, when it fell 0.6 percent.