Productivity And Costs By Industry, 2003 — 2005-08-26

The Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today on productivity and costs for selected industries. Labor productivity--defined as output per hour--rose in 2003 in over four-fifths of the detailed industries studied by the Bureau. Of 174 industries examined, output rose in 88 and hours declined in 141. The share of industries with productivity increases in 2003 was larger than the share recorded in 2001 or 2002, but smaller than the share during the overall 1987-2003 period. From 1987 to 2003, labor productivity increased in 95 percent of the industries. Output rose in 84 percent of the industries, while hours fell in 56 percent.