2022 Second Quarter (Revised) Productivity and Costs — 2022-09-01

Nonfarm business sector labor productivity decreased 4.1 percent in the second quarter of 2022, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today, as output decreased 1.4 percent and hours worked increased 2.7 percent. (All quarterly percent changes in this release are seasonally adjusted annual rates.) The 4.1-percent decrease in labor productivity reported today for the second quarter of 2022 is a 0.5- percentage point upward revision from the preliminary estimate of a 4.6-percent decrease, primarily driven by a 0.7-percentage point upward revision to output. From the same quarter a year ago, nonfarm business sector labor productivity decreased 2.4 percent. This is the largest decline in the series, which begins in the first quarter of 1948. (See table A1.) Unit labor costs in the nonfarm business sector increased 10.2 percent in the second quarter of 2022, reflecting a 5.7-percent increase in hourly compensation and a 4.1-percent decrease in productivity.