2017 First Quarter (Revised) Productivity and Costs — 2017-06-05

Nonfarm business sector labor productivity was unchanged during the first quarter of 2017, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today, as both output and hours worked increased 1.7 percent. (All quarterly percent changes in this release are seasonally adjusted annual rates.) From the first quarter of 2016 to the first quarter of 2017, productivity increased 1.2 percent, reflecting a 2.5-percent increase in output and a 1.3-percent increase in hours worked. (See table A1.) Labor productivity, or output per hour, is calculated by dividing an index of real output by an index of hours worked by all persons, including employees, proprietors, and unpaid family workers. Measures released today were based on more recent source data than were available for the preliminary report. Unit labor costs in the nonfarm business sector increased 2.2 percent in the first quarter of 2017, reflecting a 2.2-percent increase in hourly compensation; productivity was unchanged.